Grußwort: 34th Annual Conference of the European Communities Trade Mark Association (ECTA englisch)
Mr Müller,
Ladies and Gentlemen,
As experts on trademark law you know that a good idea is recognizable. Usually at once, sometimes later, and always by the fact that many others want to copy it.
Im glad you have chosen Hamburg as the venue for this years ECTA conference. That was a very good idea! Im pleased so many of you have accepted the invitation to come to Hamburg, and I especially like the new name for our city: Gateway to the trademark world.
Above all it is the port of Hamburg and the tradition of international trade that has earned the city its reputation as a gateway to the world. Hamburgs trademark is its cosmopolitan atmosphere although, of course, that isnt what you, as experts, normally mean by the word trademark.
Trademarks are important to Hamburg. There are some that are part of the citys character, like Elbe and Wind, and we are proud that branded goods produced here take the shapes and colours, the scent and flavour of Hamburg out into the world.
Our trademarks also include our legal expertise. Hamburg offers excellent administration of justice, that can be relied on internationally. That applies in particular to German and European trademark law:
The Hamburg Regional Court and Higher Regional Court have been competent for settling disputes in the field of trademark law for many years. Both of these courts are also competent for the Community trademark law that applies in all the EU member states and have earned an excellent reputation throughout Europe in this connection.
Hamburg is an internationally renowned legal venue. For almost twenty years, for example, the International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea has had its seat in Hamburg.
And the ratification of the Agreement on a Unified Patent Court will bring yet another European legal institution to Hamburg: the local chamber for EU patents.
In addition, a good 9,000 lawyers uphold the quality of legal practice. They offer highly qualified consultancy on many specific issues. Swift procedures, closeness to the public and short routes are typical of our courts. And we have the University of Hamburg, the Bucerius Law School and the Max Planck Institute for Comparative and International Private Law to provide new ideas, advanced education and training and basic research in the legal sector.
The international nature of the economy and its size and dynamism are dependent on reliable legal norms and a high level of legal expertise. All the companies in Hamburg that operate internationally are aware of that. We are glad that ECTA has once again emphasized the significance of Hamburg as a centre for trademark law by choosing our city as the venue for its conference.
Ladies and Gentlemen,
Its part of the inherent logic of a good idea that scarcely has it been expressed it leaves its source and turns up again in other places. If something is good, everybody wants to copy it. Designs, recipes or apt expressions: a successful creation has to be given efficient protection as intellectual property. Both major enterprises and small, creative teams want their products to be widely used, but they also want the origins of the idea to be identifiable and the quality of the product maintained.
Uniqueness in spite of duplication: Making the special nature of the intellectual achievement realized in the product financially worthwhile, and reconciling this with its duplication in consistent quality: that is what trademark law is all about. So there have always been trademarks, even if they were not generally called that. Trademarks protect the originator and the tremendous economic potential of the idea.
Through its excellent work, ECTA has done much to make the economic and legal significance of trademarks known in the European institutions.
Ladies and Gentlemen,
New ideas from the realm of technology, especially the possibilities that arise from digitization, are a hard test for the protection of intellectual property. That the mass reproduction of texts, music and pictures presents a challenge to the provisions of copyright and trademark law is already well known. And the technique of 3D printing will confront companies and lawyers with new legal issues, too.
Additive layer manufacturing (ALM) machines the proper technical term for 3D printers are interesting for medicine and aviation, the production of spare parts and also for the manufacture of everyday articles.
And reproducibility by means of a 3D printer does not only affect patent law and the laws on utility models. Since most of the objects are not only of a technical nature, copyright and the design and trademark laws have to keep pace with the new technology, too.
The Hamburg Senate is encouraging the development of this technology with a 3D initiative in which we seek to pool the competence of industry, research institutions and the sciences. With the Laser Centre North, the Hamburg Logistics Institute and the Digital Services research cluster of the university, Hamburg has a strong team of expert research scientists in this field. Since Hamburg has the relevant legal institutions, the topics meet with the necessary legal expertise. I am glad that with this conference, ECTA has expressly taken up this aspect and placed it in an international context.
Ladies and Gentlemen,
If you look out of the window you will see Kleiner Grasbrook directly opposite. Kleiner Grasbrook was once a marshy island that served as a pasture for cattle. It has since become a peninsula in the middle of Germanys biggest port, in a central position, readily accessible to both ships and the people of Hamburg.
Hamburg is going to make Kleiner Grasbrook world-famous; right opposite where you are sitting, we intend to build an Olympic City.
The German Olympic Sports Confederation has chosen Hamburg as Germanys candidate for the Olympic and Paralympic Summer Games of 2024. Our strategy is convincing because it combines values, visions and economic virtues.
Hamburg stands for a modern Germany of the 21st century, for an internationally receptive, tolerant and democratic society. We are making use of our candidature for the Olympic and Paralympic Games in order to develop our city and show that sustainability and ecology really are topics for major urban centres.
With the Olympic City at Kleiner Grasbrook we intend to create a new district that will offer attractive sport and leisure facilities accessible to the whole population. The Games are a chance for the city as a whole; we are using the momentum of the Olympic idea for Hamburg, for new mobility strategies and the enlargement of the public transport network.
We will make a careful estimate of the costs and benefits and work with a sound and sustainable financing strategy. The Games will boost the economy, make the city more international still and enhance the quality of life of its people.
Ladies and Gentlemen,
We are happy to receive international guests and experience the great professional interest in our city. Your conference is an outward sign of the innovative topics that are to be taken up here. You have given the gateway to the trademark world an intellectual design.
If you like our city, please tell other people. Hamburg is a good place for new ideas, international guests and major events.
Make propaganda for us and Hamburgs candidature for the Olympic Games! The city of Hamburg, its people, and everything that comes from here will in future be Olympic.
Im sure you will strike the right note in doing so, because more than anyone else you are aware that advertising slogans that contain the word Olympic may have a trademark-law dimension too.
Thank you.
Es gilt das gesprochene Wort.