Dr. Stephan Hofinger studied mechanical engineering and economics. He wrote his dissertation on economic aspects of the patent system (summarised in Harvard Business Manager, issue 01/99). He is also co-author of the Austrian Trademark Law Commentary "marken.schutz". Dr. Stephan Hofinger has been working as a patent attorney since 2001 and is admitted to practice before the Austrian Patent Office in Vienna, the European Patent Office, the European Union Intellectual Property Office (EUIPO) in Alicante and the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) in Geneva. Since 2003 he has been a member of the Board of the Austrian Chamber of Patent Attorneys (ÖPAK) and organises its training programme.