130 years of patents and innovations in Ilmenau - a look back and ahead

Dr. Hoock, no German university can boast more patents per member of staff than TU Ilmenau – as confirmed in 2023 by a study conducted by the German Economic Institute (IW). In the ranking of total registered patents, TU Ilmenau achieved an impressive 8th place among the 178 universities surveyed – ahead of it were only much larger and financially stronger universities such as Dresden, Karlsruhe, Munich, Aachen, or Darmstadt. Have TU Ilmenau and its predecessor institutions always been so strong in patents?

Even if the IW statistics require some explanation: TU Ilmenau holds a leading position in patent applications among German universities. Above all, strong industrial partners and application-oriented research help us secure technical problem-solving through intellectual property rights.

First and foremost, the four affiliated institutes – TITK, iba, CiS, and IMMS?

Exactly. Compared to ten years ago, the number of invention disclosures and patent applications at TU Ilmenau has halved – unfortunately reflecting a nationwide trend, as a representative of the German Patent and Trade Mark Office illustrated at the opening of the exhibition. This is also because inventions are usually technical devices or processes, whereas in the case of artificial intelligence (AI), progress is often embedded in training datasets or model architectures, making it more difficult to demonstrate.

The university’s affiliated institutes, which are closely linked to TU Ilmenau, now account for more than a third of all patent applications – a figure that ranks among the best in Germany.

Which faculties at the university are currently most active when it comes to patent applications and intellectual property rights?

The Department of Mechanical Engineering – especially Metrology – and the Department of Electrical Engineering and Information Technology continue to report the most inventions, followed by Medical and Computer Engineering. In recent years, however, there has also been intensive research and patenting in audiovisual technology, chemistry, transportation, semiconductors, and biotechnology. Leading inventors at TU Ilmenau include Professor Zentner and Professors Schober, Fröhlich, Husar, and Bergmann.

In 2025, Thuringia will, for the first time, be a partner of iENA, the international trade fair “Ideas – Inventions – Innovations,” which annually showcases inventions from all over the world and regularly awards several medals to TU Ilmenau researchers. Is innovative strength particularly high not only in Ilmenau but across Thuringia as a whole?

There are few major industrial production sites in Thuringia. However, there is a strong SME sector with intensive research activities. Industry-related research institutions often act as innovation hubs for much larger partners. They, along with the so-called “hidden champions” – highly specialized companies that supply the global market from Thuringia – know how crucial it is to protect innovative solutions. This is the only way to ensure a return on investment for research spending.

What trends in patent applications do you expect in the coming years?

Patent applications reflect current technical challenges. Consequently, today’s main topics are sustainability, energy efficiency, and the use of AI methods to enhance the performance of existing technologies.

Can you give a concrete example of how PATON supports the path from idea or invention to patent to innovation?

I have been leading PATON for 15 years, but some colleagues in my team have worked here for 30 years. Our common task is to support creative and resourceful people – especially from Thuringia – in protecting their ideas. It doesn’t matter whether they come from schools, universities, trades, or other fields. They all have worked intensively on a technical problem and found a surprising solution – such as researchers at the Group of Materials for Electrical Engineering and Electronics under Prof. Peter Schaaf with their inovation “Purification of water using solar energy.”

As a first step, we work with these inventors to determine whether the solution is genuinely new or whether similar products or processes already exist.

Once this hurdle is cleared, we arrange a free consultation with a patent attorney, during which the prospects for patent protection are discussed in detail. We also provide information about procedures and costs, funding opportunities, and encourage a cost–benefit analysis. Usually, there is strong interest in ensuring that the patenting costs pay off. As a cooperation partner of the German and European Patent Offices and co-financed by the state of Thuringia, we are able to offer these services free of charge.

When people think of patents, they often associate them with technical innovations such as the so-called plasmonic sponge mentioned above. What significance do trademarks have in the innovation process?

Of course, not all ideas are technical. Many come from the creative sector, may be promising business concepts, but are not patentable for various reasons. If a product has a distinctive appearance, we recommend considering design protection – or registering a trademark for the product or service. Together, we research whether the proposed trademark might infringe the rights of third parties and advise on different ways to achieve effective trademark protection.

We are all familiar with products whose companies invested in protecting and promoting their brand – think of VIBA confectionery, BORN mustard, or Köstritzer beer.

What role do students and young founders play in the innovation culture of Ilmenau and Thuringia?

It’s always a pleasure when a group of students from a Thuringian university comes to us for advice on protecting their business idea. In Ilmenau alone, there are more than 250 spin-offs from the TU surroundings, many of which are based on technical ideas linked to patent applications. But a good trademark can also be a key factor in spreading and securing a new business.

Is there an invention or brand from Thuringia that has particularly impressed you in recent years?

I don’t want to diminish the value of the many outstanding inventions by singling out just one. But I was particularly impressed by the founding team of IDloop from Jena. During the coronavirus crisis, they succeeded in developing a product precisely tailored to the situation: contactless fingerprint recognition to reduce the risk of infection through safety devices while traveling.

What has motivated you personally to deal with patents and innovation for so many years?

As a young researcher, I worked in a relatively narrow field of chemistry. Now I have access to a wide variety of technical fields and scientific issues – more than I ever imagined. Not that I understand everything – but I am inspired by the creativity and energy with which current challenges are being addressed. And when one of these technical solutions is published in a patent, it reaches far more interested readers than most specialist articles in expensive journals. Patent holders can then decide how the new technology can be used commercially.

Is there an innovation “made in Ilmenau” that you believe deserves much more attention?

The work on the Planck balance, nanopositioning machines, femtosecond lasers – all of them are technologies that demand world-class precision. I would be delighted if a broader public began to associate Ilmenau – and, of course, TU Ilmenau as a research hub – with the theme of “high precision.”

Where is PATON heading in the coming years – what is your vision?

PATON currently serves both as a state advisory center for all of Thuringia and as an operating unit of TU Ilmenau. The close integration of both creates noticeable synergies – not least because all team members can work flexibly across both fields. My hope is that PATON will continue to be widely used in the future and dynamically adapt to new challenges. In the field of innovation protection especially, it becomes clear how valuable such support is for scientific and economic institutions. Innovations need protection – and protection needs expertise. PATON combines both.