Opening reception for the exhibition “130 Years of PATENT Ideas in Ilmenau”

What do a ball bearing, a new surveying tool for sewer manholes, artificial photosynthesis and traditional brands from Thuringia have in common?

Answers to these and many other exciting questions can be found in the exhibition "130 years of PATENT ideas in Ilmenau", which will be officially opened on Wednesday, September 24, 2025, at 5 p.m. in the foyer of the Ilmenau University Library (Langewiesener Straße 37, Leibnizbau).

You will be welcomed to the opening by the management of the German Patent and Trade Mark Office and the head of PATON | Landespatentzentrum Thüringen, Dr Christoph Hoock, who will jointly open the exhibition organized by PATON.

With this exhibition, we are celebrating 130 years of PATON and its predecessor organizations. At the same time, we would like to provide the general public with interesting facts about types of IP rights and the wide range of services offered by PATON on the path from idea to patent or trademark to innovation.

You can look forward to:

• Posters on inventions from Thuringia or with a connection to Thuringia
• A display case with Thuringian brands and their history
• Information on the DDR design project
• An original moped from GDR times
• Roll-ups on all types of property rights
• A photo show and further insights into the history of patent information

A special highlight: Mr. Mageeban Kuperan, inventor, founder and winner of the Thuringian Innovation Award 2024 in the "Digital & Media" category, will present his invention and his path to successfully founding a company and report on how PATON supported him in the process.

The exhibition is free of charge, open to the public and can be visited during the opening hours of the university library. It ends on November 13, 2025.