Peter Hess - In Memoriam

It is with great sadness and respect that we announce the passing of our great friend and leader, Peter Hess of LES Germany, the immediate past president of LESI.

Peter Hess was a partner at the Munich-based law firm of Bardehle Pagenberg. At the firm, he handled a variety of complex patent prosecution cases, and opposition and patent nullity proceedings at all instances before the European Patent Office (EPO) and the German Patent and Trademark Office. His practice focused on the computer and IT fields, medical devices, and the automotive supplier industry.

Many of his cases involved managing parallel patent litigation across various European jurisdictions, with most of these requiring careful coordination with parallel litigation in the U.S.

Peter Hess was a global leader in the fields of IP commercialization, technology transfer, and licensing.  He was active in LES in many capacities, including as the President of LES Germany from 2014 - 2015, the LES International Board Treasurer, and as President of LESI from 2017 - 2018.  He was active in organizing the LESI Annual Meeting held in Munich in 2005.  During his term as LESI Board President, he chose the theme of "Strong IP Drives the Bottom Line" and championed this idea.  His presidential term was quite successful with the advancement of several initiatives including a redesign of the les Nouvelles cover and developing joint initiatives between LESI and several prestigious IP organizations, such as the European Patent Office (EPO).

Peter was a charismatic, beloved member of the LES family and will be deeply missed by all of us. Peter was 55 and had nobly endured a long battle with cancer.

Peter is survived by his wife Elisabeth. Those seeking to make contact, please write to president@lesi.org.