Siemens appoints successor for Beat Weibel in global patent department

Meiko Stenger is a Siemens veteran. After a brief stint in international commercial law and M&A at Shearman & Sterling, he joined Siemens in Munich in 2004. Following various positions, he led the legal IP/IT team from 2014 to 2021. For the past four years, he moved away from pure IP law to serve as chief counsel and head of legal technology, export control and commercial in the group’s legal department.

Return to IP roots

In early March, Stenger returned to IP law to head the global patent department of Germany’s largest technology group. With almost 1,900 applications at the European Patent Office in 2023, Siemens was Germany’s most active applicant and Europe’s second most prolific after Ericsson. Stenger, a lawyer, takes over the management of the patent department from patent attorney Beat Weibel.

Weibel will leave Siemens at the end of April by mutual agreement. “Personal and family reasons have prompted me to return to my home country. The offer from ETH Zurich also influenced the decision,” Weibel told JUVE Patent. Weibel took over as head of the patent department at Siemens in 2013. The Swiss national previously spent 21 years at ABB.

From June, he will become head of technology transfer at ETH Zurich. According to the Swiss university, he will oversee the protection and exploitation of intellectual property, as well as licences and technology transfer. He will also take on a part-time teaching role, training postgraduates and professors in IP rights management.

Weibel’s move is not only a return to his home country, but also to his place of study. The electrical engineer studied at ETH Zurich in the 1980s.

Industry advocate steps down

Weibel recently gained prominence not only as head of Germany’s largest patent department but through his activities in various industry associations. He served as president of FEMIPI, the umbrella organisation of in-house patent attorneys and patent agents. He was also president of the VPP, which represents IP experts’s interests, particularly those working in industry.

Weibel is now relinquishing both roles. The VPP will elect a new president at its next general meeting on 8 May. The VPP executive committee has proposed Peter Berg from Infineon as Weibel’s successor.

Commitment to higher quality

Most notably, Weibel was one of the leading figures in the Industry Patent Quality Charter (IPQC). Through Siemens, he campaigned alongside many other industrial companies for higher standards in EPO patent grants. He became known as a challenging dialogue partner for EPO management. In part due to this work, Siemens was the recipient of the JUVE Patent award for IP In-house Team of the Year 2023.

While Weibel’s involvement with IPQC will likely decrease, Christian Grünberger, head of IP at MTU Aero Engines, is already taking on a more prominent role. However, Weibel intends to continue advocating for high-quality patents from his new position at ETH Zurich.