LSIPR 50 2017: Jörg Thomaier
Name: Jörg Thomaier
Organisation: Bayer
Position: Chief IP counsel
This is Jörg Thomaier’s second nomination to LSIPR 50, demonstrating his excellent work for Bayer and his impact on the life sciences field.
It’s no surprise that Bayer finds itself the target of attempted infringements of its IP rights, given that Bayer has offices on every continent and owns globally-recognised brands such as Rennie.
Thomaier’s job is to handle all aspects of IP, including strategy and litigation. He previously focused on patents, licensing and trademarks at the company.
After joining Bayer in 1997, Thomaier quickly rose through the IP ranks. He currently holds the position of chief IP counsel, a role he has had since 2010.
In 2012, he was given the additional responsibility of managing director of Bayer IP, the IP-managing company of the Bayer Group in Germany.
Thomaier leads a team of almost 300 employees concerned with IP at Bayer, split into the divisions of pharmaceuticals, consumer health, animal health and crop science.
In 2015, he led the preparation and separation of Bayer’s polymer business into Covestro.
"Thomaier’s job is to handle all aspects of IP, including strategy and litigation."
Thomaier studied chemistry at the University of Heidelberg. He went on study this field at the Universities of Freiburg (Germany), Utrecht (Netherlands) and ETH Zürich (Switzerland), and has also received a PhD in phosphorus organometallic chemistry.
Sister site WIPR spoke to Thomaier in 2013 about the state of IP protection in emerging jurisdictions and the challenges Bayer faces in asserting its IP.
