After graduating with a masters degree and a PhD in mechanical engineering from the University of Hannover/Germany, Mr. Dr. Nikolaus W. Hinrichs started working in the field of intellectual property in a law firm in Bremen in 1997. He then joined the Intellectual Property Management of Daimler AG, where he worked on the prosecution, licensing and litigation of patents concerning combustion engines, suspension systems and transmissions. In 2003 he became in charge of transmission systems. Mr. Hinrichs also worked for three months with two intellectual property law firms in Washington, D.C, and in Virginia. He became a European Patent Attorney in 2001 and a German Patent Attorney and a European Trademark Attorney in 2004. He became a partner with the intellectual property law firm of REHBERG HUEPPE + PARTNER Patentanwaelte PartG mbB at the beginning of 2005.

Mr. Hinrichs especially focuses on adequate treatment of technical inventions with the steps of
• advising the inventor and the employer
• preparing and filing patent applications and utility model applications as well as conducting the respective procedures (prosecution, cancellation, opposition, nullity)
• representing and advising with respect to infringement and license contracts

Mr. Hinrichs has special technical knowledge in the fields of general mechanical engineering, automotive engineering, mechanics, hand tools and medical engineering.

Mr. Hinrichs is author and co-author of several scientific publications in the fields of mechanical engineering and intellectual property law.

Mr. Hinrichs is a member of numerous German, European and International organizations in the field of intellectual property, as for example Deutsche Patentanwaltskammer (German Chamber of Patent Attorneys), Bundesverband der deutschen Patentanwälte (German Federal Association of Patent Attorneys), GRUR (German Association for Intellectual Property and Copyright), VPP (Association of Intellectual Property Experts), epi (Institute of Professional Representatives before the European Patent Office) and FICPI (International Federation of Intellectual Property Attorneys).