PATINFO2025: Conference on patents and standards in Ilmenau!

PATINFO2025: Conference on patents and standards in Ilmenau!

The international colloquium PATINFO2025, which deals with the complex interaction between patents and standards, will take place in the Ilmenau Festival Hall from May 21st to 23rd, 2025. According to the Technical University of Ilmenau The opening will be by Maria Skottke-Klein, Vice President of the German Patent and Trademark Office. The event's target group are international experts from research, industry, patent offices, law firms and the information sector.

The program includes panel discussions, specialist lectures and workshops covering a variety of topics relating to patents, trademarks and designs. The central discussion is entitled: “Patents, standards and norms – quo vadis?”. Over 30 companies will take part in an exhibition in which they will present the latest developments in intellectual property data, software and services. A free workshop program allows participants to learn new knowledge and skills.

Importance of standards in technology

Standards play a crucial role in modern technology, ensuring that various devices, such as cell phones, can communicate across countries. As the European Patent Office website explains, they ensure interoperability in numerous technology areas and are essential for the dissemination of new technologies within the digital economy.

These standards often contain new and patented technologies, leading to interactions between patent and standards systems. Patents are granted for inventions that are new, inventive and commercially applicable, while standard documents are considered relevant prior art in many areas unless they are bound by confidentiality. To ensure that patent examiners have access to the latest developments, the EPO provides a database of over 130 million patent documents, enabling comprehensive research on inventors, applicants and technical disclosures.

Patents and standards in practice

An important aspect of the cooperation between patents and standards is the intellectual property requirements. Those involved in standards development must declare their relevant intellectual property rights and offer licenses according to the FRAND (Fair, Reasonable, and Non-Discriminatory) principle. This ensures that the technologies developed remain accessible and usable. Examples of technologies enabled by standards include NFC for contactless data exchange, USB for plug-and-play functionality and the LTE networks for mobile broadband Internet access.

PATINFO2025 is therefore not only a platform for knowledge transfer, but also an essential forum for exchange about the exploitation and evaluation of intellectual property rights. The colloquium is organized by the PATON State Patent Center Thuringia at the TU Ilmenau. Anyone interested can contact Dr. Contact Christoph Hoock, the head of PATON, on +49 3677 69-4573 or via email at christoph.hoock@tu-ilmenau.de.