TEAM MUNICH

Prof. Straus is Honorary Professor at the Ludwig Maximilian University in Munich, full Titular Professor at the Faculty of Law of the University in Ljubljana and Director Emeritus of the Max Planck Institute for Innovation and Competition in Munich. He taught European and German patent and utility model law at the Faculty of Law of the University of Munich for over 20 years and the course “Chemical and Biotech Patents” for 18 years, as Marshall B. Coyne Visiting Professor of International and Comparative Law, at the George Washington University Law School, Washington D.C.. In 2003, he was one of the founders of the Munich Intellectual Property Law Center (MIPLC) (as a joint foundation of the Max Planck Institute for Intellectual Property, Competition and Tax Law, the Technical University of Munich, the George Washington University School of Law, Washington D.C. and the University of Augsburg) and as Chair of the Managing Board its Chairman for five years. After his retirement as Director of the Max Planck Institute for Innovation and Competition, Prof. Straus held the “NIPMO-UNISA Chair in Intellectual Property Management” at the University of South Africa (UNISA) in Pretoria. As a Visiting Professor, Prof. Straus has taught at Cornell University School of Law, Ithaca, N.Y., the Faculty of Law of the University of Toronto and Tsinghua University Faculty of Law in Beijing. 

He also holds several honorary professorships from various Chinese universities, where he frequently lectures. In intellectual property matters, in particular patent law, Prof. Straus has advised national and international governmental organizations such as the OECD, WIPO, EU Commission, the Swiss and the government of the Federal Republic of Germany, and has participated in legislative projects. Through his involvement in numerous important patent disputes in Europe, the U.S., Japan and other countries, Prof. Straus also has fundamental practical experience.