Michael has been working with Bird & Bird in Munich since May 2006, and has partner-equivalent status. He is a German and European patent and trade mark attorney and advises and represents clients in IP matters, with a focus on IP issues in the field of life sciences, biochemistry, molecular biology, organic and pharmaceutical chemistry.
Michael studied biology with a focus on biochemistry, organic chemistry, virology and zoology at the Universities of Erlangen and Strasbourg from 1982 to 1988. He received his doctorate in 1992 on his studies on the use of Herpesvirus saimiri as a cloning vector to express foreign genes, in particular oncogenes. From 1993 to 1996, he was a team leader at the Max-Planck-Institute for Biochemistry in Martinsried. His main interest was the development of experimental therapies for treating Hepatitis C virus infections using chemically modified antisense oligonucleotides and ribozymes. These efforts were honoured with the silver medal of the Society for Progress in the Internal Medicine. Michael published 14 scientific articles in the field of virology and molecular biology.
He started his patent attorney training in 1997 in a patent law firm in Munich and was admitted as German and European patent and trade mark attorney in 2001. Before joining Bird & Bird he worked as in-house patent attorney in a Biotech company specialising in vaccine development.
He has gained broad experience in European and German patent and trade mark practice such as representing clients in patent, trade mark and utility model prosecution as well as in opposition and nullity proceedings. Michael also closely collaborates with Bird & Bird attorneys-at-law in infringement proceedings. In addition, Michael has vast experience in advising clients in patent validity, infringement and German employee inventor’s law issues. He is admitted to represent clients before the German Patent and Trade Mark Office, the Federal Patent court, the Federal Supreme Court (in nullity proceedings), the European patent office and the Office for Harmonisation in the Internal Market.
Michael is a member of FICPI, EPI and the German Patent Attorney Chamber. He speaks German, English and French.
