The award, presented by the Fraunhofer IAO Institute for Industrial Engineering is given to companies for their sustainable patent management.
The award was presented on 7 March 2012 at Patente 2012, the annual convention for patent experts in Munich, Germany.
“The successful protection of our intellectual property is an essential aspect of our research and development work in the Bürkert Group. Like everyone else, we are not immune to product piracy and are all too familiar with the illegal copies of our valves, sensors and controllers,” says Heribert Rohrbeck, managing director of Bürkert.
Applicants for the award had to answer questions about their monitoring and defence systems, the research network, invention assessment and evaluation system, integration of IP in corporate policy and its significance for the business development.
“Bürkert wins this year's award with a considerable lead, having been awarded first place by five of the six jurors, who could make out only minor shortcomings,” said Truong Le of the Frauenhofer IAO.
“Our IP strategy is oriented toward optimal product protection and we determinedly pursue patent and trademark infringements on an international level,” said Bürkert's director of IP Management, Dr. Gertrud Eppler. “The IP Management Award is a great distinction for our daily work and shows that we are very well positioned.”
