C. Thomas Becher

Thomas Becher is a mechanical engineer by training, and this has stayed with him. Mechanical engineers are assertive and confident, with the ability to visualize processes and objects. When designing a part, they must be able to imagine how it will fit within an assembly. They should be able to assess different materials and how much in terms of thermal, static and dynamic stresses these can take. They should arrive not at the best but at the optimal process for manufacturing a given part, which requires working on a budget. Thomas claims that this is no different when prosecuting or litigating IP rights. The individual success must further the overall strategy and is arrived at by finding the optimal path through the procedural options and by staying clear of the stress limits.

Thomas oversees a diverse prosecution portfolio, low tech and high tech. It spans from medical devices, with a focus on implants, to 3D printing, printing, textile technology, watchmaking, automotive technology such as tires and exhaust emission control systems, and everyday products such as mobile phone accessories. He prosecutes and litigates patents, utility models and designs, the latter often in conjunction with unfair competition claims. He feels equally at ease in the German courts and before the EPO tribunals. Opposition and advice practice take much of his time.

Thomas became a German Patent Attorney in 2000 and a European Patent Attorney in 2001. In 2012, he was the founding partner of the Düsseldorf office of the firm. He still co-chairs it. In 2016, he qualified as a Higher Courts litigator for England and Wales. Prior to his legal education, he studied general mechanical engineering at the Technical University (RWTH) in Aachen and spent his final year with a thesis at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) and the Fraunhofer-Institute for Production Technology (IPT) on rapid prototyping in product development. Thomas is tri-lingual in German, English and French.