Pan-European Seals Programme: EPO, EUIPO and Technical University of Munich join forces to promote IP in higher education

Munich, 10 February 2021 - The European Patent Office (EPO), the European Union Intellectual Property Office (EUIPO) and the Technical University of Munich (TUM) signed a partnership agreement on 4 February 2021 as part of efforts to promote IP in higher education. Under the agreement, TUM will participate in the Pan-European Seal Professional Traineeship Programme, a vibrant network of over 80 academic institutions across Europe with a pronounced interest in intellectual property (IP) that gives university graduates the opportunity to gain valuable professional experience at the EPO and EUIPO.

"In these challenging times, it is more important than ever to invest in the IP minds of tomorrow so that they can act as ambassadors for IP and the benefits it brings," said EPO President António Campinos. "University innovation and research activities are key to securing technological progress and addressing society's most pressing challenges. A solid knowledge of IP protection and its benefits are essential in creating additional social and economic value."

Thomas F. Hoffmann, TUM President said: "We firmly believe that close cooperation among the stakeholders in the IP community will lead to mutual benefits and ultimately to the benefit of society through the commercialization of technologies, which in turn leads to the development of innovative products and solutions to technical problems, generates revenue, and creates jobs. Supported by its entrepreneurial mindset, TUM has substantially increased the numbers of applications for European patents in recent years."

Under the partnership, eligible TUM graduates with a technical background will be able to apply for paid, one-year professional traineeships at the EPO and the EUIPO. As part of the Programme, they will experience work in a collaborative, multicultural environment, undertake challenging assignments, and have an opportunity to build their professional networks.

Jointly organised by the EPO and the EUIPO, the Pan - European Seals Programme is a framework for strategic co-operation between the two IP offices and European universities that is designed to foster a modern IP culture throughout Europe. It seeks to enhance education on IP and to bridge the gap between academia and the labour market. IP rights play a crucial role in the European economy: According to a joint study by the EPO and EUIPO, businesses that use rights such as patents, trademarks and registered designs intensively generate 45% of GDP in the EU annually, and account for 39% of all jobs in the region.

ABOUT THE EPO

With 6 600 staff, the European Patent Office (EPO) is one of the largest public service institutions in Europe. Headquartered in Munich with offices in Berlin, Brussels, The Hague and Vienna, the EPO was founded with the aim of strengthening co-operation on patents in Europe. Through the EPO's centralised patent granting procedure, inventors are able to obtain high-quality patent protection in up to 44 countries, covering a market of some 700 million people. The EPO is also the world's leading authority in patent information and patent searching.

ABOUT THE TUM

The Technical University of Munich (TUM) is one of Europe's leading research universities, with around 600 professors, 45 000 students, and 11 000 academic and non-academic staff. Its focus areas are the engineering sciences, natural sciences, life sciences and medicine, combined with economic and social sciences. TUM acts as an entrepreneurial university that promotes talents and creates value for society. In that it profits from having strong partners in science and industry. It is represented worldwide with the TUM Asia campus in Singapore as well as offices in Beijing, Brussels, Mumbai, San Francisco, and São Paulo. Nobel Prize winners and inventors such as Rudolf Diesel, Carl von Linde, and Rudolf Mößbauer have done research at TUM. In 2006, 2012, and 2019 it won recognition as a German "Excellence University." In international rankings, TUM regularly places among the best universities in Germany.

Media contacts

European Patent Office
Luis Berenguer Giménez
Principal Director Communication / Spokesperson
Tel.: +49 89 2399 1820

Technical University of Munich
Ulrich Meyer
Spokesperson, Head of Media Relations
Tel. +49 89 289 22779