The celebration took place in Berlin, in the area of the Brandenburg Gate (Brandenburgertor), in the Unter den Linden boulevard. It was in a wonderful, old fashioned hotel, the Adlon Kempinski.
The event comprised two parts: a series of lectures and a dinner.
The first part included four lectures on topics which are related to science and technology but did not refer to patents. This allowed the lecturers to give the public some interesting pieces of knowledge about general topics about which patent attorney very seldom have the opportunity to discuss.
The first lecture, entitled: Hybris – Die Reise der Menschheit – Zwischen Aufbruch und Scheitern (Hybris – The travel of humanity – Between departure and failure), given by Professor Johannes Krause, director of the Max Planck Institute for evolutionary anthropology, reported on the impact humans have always had on the world, with some curious facts, like the reason why Europeans are white instead of black, as all men were at the beginning, when they appeared in Africa (because white skin is more effective in getting vitamin D, developed by the sun which is not as strong in Europe as it is in Africa).
The second lecture, entitled: Katalyse für die Welt (Catalysis for the World), given by Professor Benjamin List, Director of Max Planck Institute for research on coal and Nobel price for chemistry, brought me back to the times when I worked in a University laboratory in heterogeneous catalysis during my graduation and doctor theses. And the use of CO2 as a building block for producing chemicals and energy (with the further, positive result to remove it from the atmosphere) was among my dreams as a young scientist before I turned to the fascinating world of patents.
The third lecture, entitled: Origins – Der Ursprung unseres Lebens im Universum (Origins – The origin of our life in the Universe), given by Professor Ulrich Walter, expert of astronautics and teacher of astrodynamics at the technical university of Munich, reported on the origin of the Universe and of life, mentioning which combination of extraordinary events made the life possible on Earth (for example, who was aware of the fact that the existence of the Moon is basic for the life on Earth?).
The final lecture, entitled: Science & Art – Von der Molekularkunst zur KI Kunst (Science & art – from molecular art to AI art), given by Professor Wolfgang Heckl, Director General of the Deutsches Museum in Munich, was a sort of divertissement, showing the use of AI and of molecular structures to create artworks. Even the transformation of paintings into music was shown!
After the lectures, we moved to a convivial buffet dinner. Very good food and beverages combined with the opportunity to meet a lot of colleagues from the IP profession and their accompanying persons.
Best wishes to our German colleagues and thank for the invitation!