There are many players in Europe’s IP ecosystem, some offering mostly free advice and support, others providing paid-for legal services. These need not be rivals, but rather complement each other. A good example is how over 300 PATLIB centres, found in many major European cities, can work with local patent attorneys to support inventors and entrepreneurs.

Christoph Hoock, Director at PATON, patent centre of Thuringia, a PATLIB in Germany and Jasper Werhan, partner at the Patent Attorney firm Meissner Bolte also in Germany, have built a strong working relationship over the last 30 years. They describe their cooperation as a win-win-win situation benefiting each of their organisations and their clients too. They explain the role of PATLIB centres, who their customers are and why patent attorneys and PATLIB centres should be working together to increase their client base and provide the best services to inventors and thereby promote innovation in Europe. This episode is moderated by EPO examiner Ed Cooke.

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