Hardly any other organisation offers such diverse opportunities for international work.

Our members are active in the various committees – statutory committees and standing committees – of AIPPI International (link to the committees: Committees: List of all Committees – AIPPI). This work enables a particularly intensive exchange with colleagues from all over the world. The wide variety of committees takes into account a wide range of interests. The committees generally meet virtually on a monthly basis and also in person at the World Congress. Working together makes it possible to establish good contacts and even friendships.

Are you interested in joining one of the international committees? Get in touch with a member of the board! Special consideration is given to our young members (AIPPI Young Members).

Our young members (AIPPI Young Members) are a particularly important group within the organisation.

They participate disproportionately often in working groups and are intensively involved in our work. Nevertheless, they have so far been underrepresented as speakers. To improve this, we have launched the Young Members webinar.

As part of the webinar, which takes place in autumn, our young members prepare a topic that is presented to a broad international audience. We utilise the reach of AIPPI’s communication channels to promote the event internationally.

The German national group comments on current legislative proposals in the field of intellectual property.

The in-depth expertise of our broad membership base allows us to submit well-founded opinions on complex legal issues within a very short time. Our experts from practice, the judiciary, research and teaching make constructive and application-oriented suggestions for improvement in the interests of harmonising and promoting the protection of intellectual property. We are very pleased that the Federal Ministry of Justice in particular regularly asks us to comment on proposed legislation.

Examples of this work include:

• Opinion on a possible extension of the Madrid and Hague language regimes

• Opinion on the European Commission’s proposal for a regulation on “standard essential patents”

• Opinion on the European Commission’s proposal for a regulation on supplementary protection certificates (SPCs)

• Opinion on the European Commission’s proposal for a regulation on “compulsory licences”

Our general meeting and board meeting usually take place during the GRUR annual conference.

All members are welcome and entitled to vote at the General Assembly. Only the members of the Executive Board and the delegates of the upcoming World Congress take part in the Executive Board meeting.

Our members can also contact members of the Executive Board at any time with questions and suggestions outside the General Assembly. Our Young Members Advisory Board is also available for our young members.

During the annual GRUR conference, the AIPPI Special takes place in the form of a lecture or a panel discussion.

In keeping with AIPPI’s international focus, the topics presented also have an international flavour. Thanks to our global network, we are also able to attract experts on specialised IP topics for this face-to-face event. As always, a look at foreign jurisdictions allows a more differentiated view of our own.

The Trilateral Meeting, a seminar organised together with the French and Polish AIPPI national groups, is held alternately with our seminar every other year. It takes place alternately in France, Poland and Germany.

At this seminar, the participants listen to and discuss intellectual property topics from the organising countries. This results in interesting questions and impulses for the improvement and harmonisation of existing law.

Of course, the Trilateral Meeting is also always a place for networking and maintaining long-standing contacts between the friendly national groups.

The German national group is a permanent fixture within the AIPPI. It is always represented at the annual World Congress, the highlight of the AIPPI year, with a large number of participants and delegates. Many of our members take the opportunity of the congress to meet colleagues from all over the world in one place. Many of our members have been cultivating their networks in this way for many years.

At the World Congress, resolutions are drawn up from the reports of the various national groups in an elaborate process involving numerous votes and ultimately adopted. The resolutions are the primary product of AIPPI’s work. They are taken into account by legislators and courts all over the world. The database of past resolutions is a very rich source of information on the work of AIPPI and the majority opinion of its members (link to the AIPPI Library).

Members who have recommended themselves through longstanding or particularly committed work attend the World Congress as delegates of the German national group. These delegates are entitled to vote in the Executive Committee and can therefore directly influence the wording of the resolutions. The voting process is one of the most exciting moments of the congress and is always characterised by very lively yet objective discussions.

In addition to the work in the committees and a wide range of events for discussion and training, the World Congress offers a rich programme of cultural highlights.

In order to bring our members together within the national group, we invite you to a reception organised by the German national group at the World Congress.

The reception offers all German participants of the congress the opportunity to maintain existing contacts and make new ones.

We emphasise an informal get-together at memorable locations, for example in the Red Lion Pub (London 2019) or on a Caribbean beach (Cancun 2018).

The adoption of resolutions is at the heart of AIPPI’s work. At the beginning of each resolution is the answering of the study questions. These are sent by AIPPI International to all national groups. From the answers – the national group reports – a summary report is compiled, which forms the basis of the voting process during the World Congress.

The working questions concern issues of patent law, trade mark law, copyright law and general legal issues relating to industrial property rights. We are pleased that our national group always prepares comprehensive and scientifically sound reports in all four subject areas. In doing so, we benefit from the in-depth knowledge of our members.

However, this should not deter members with less experience. Take the opportunity to contribute to the reports. This work is both instructive and an opportunity to make yourself visible in the German IP community.

The World Congress is the annual highlight of the busy AIPPI year. Members from all over the world meet at changing locations around the globe, e.g. 2022 in San Francisco or 2023 in Istanbul. For many of our members, participation is a matter of course. However, the high cost of travelling poses a challenge for our young members in particular.

In recognition of the particularly dedicated work of our young members, we launched our Congress Sponsorship Award in 2023. The prize is awarded each year to young members of our national group who have shown a conspicuous level of commitment. The prize is linked to participation in the World Congress and is endowed with EUR 3,000.

If you would like to apply for the congress sponsorship award, please take an active part in working on the questions or contribute to the German national group in some other way. We look forward to your participation!