Bernhard Pillep

Dr Bernhard Pillep is a Partner and a European and German patent and trademark attorney at Kador & Partner, a long-established intellectual property firm based in Munich, Germany. He has been named Intellectual Property Law Expert of the Year in Germany at the Corporate INTL Global Awards 2026, a recognition of more than a quarter of a century of experience protecting and enforcing intellectual property rights on behalf of his clients.

Kador & Partner: a Munich IP institution

Kador & Partner was established in 1974 by Dr Utz Kador and celebrated its 50th anniversary in 2024. The firm brings together patent attorneys and attorneys-at-law under a single roof, and describes its philosophy through the idea of “Building Bridges” — securing intellectual property rights, defending them, resolving disputes through agreement where possible, and identifying economically advantageous solutions for clients. From its base at the Gärtnerplatz in Munich, the firm advises domestic and international clients across the full range of industrial property matters.

The firm’s practice spans patents, trademarks, industrial designs and utility models; the drafting and prosecution of patent applications; opposition, nullity and cancellation proceedings; licence agreements and related contracts; freedom-to-operate opinions; IP due diligence in the context of mergers and acquisitions; patent and trademark searches; infringement litigation, including before the German Federal Patent Court and the Unified Patent Court; employee invention matters; copyright and software protection; unfair competition; and IP dispute mediation.

An experienced patent and trademark attorney

Dr Pillep is a partner with more than 25 years of experience in the field of intellectual property. He is qualified as both a European and a German patent and trademark attorney, and is a registered representative before the European Unified Patent Court, the specialist court established to hear patent disputes with effect across participating EU member states. His technical background is rooted in the sciences: he studied chemistry and chemical engineering at the Universities of Regensburg and Karlsruhe, and completed doctoral research at the Ludwig-Maximilians-University in Munich, including dissertation work carried out at the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory in California. He completed his dissertation with the highest distinction, summa cum laude, in Munich in 1999.

His practice encompasses patent law, trademark matters and design issues, opposition and appeal proceedings for European patents, freedom-to-operate opinions, validity and infringement assessments, IP due diligence, and German employee invention law. This combination of scientific training and legal qualification is characteristic of the German patent attorney profession, where deep technical understanding is essential to drafting robust patent applications and to assessing questions of validity and infringement. Dr Pillep works in German, English and French, with additional knowledge of Italian and Thai, allowing him to serve an international client base.

Protecting innovation in Germany and Europe

Germany is one of the most important jurisdictions in the world for intellectual property, home to a high volume of patent filings and a sophisticated system of specialist courts. The advent of the Unified Patent Court has added a further dimension, enabling centralised enforcement and revocation of patents across much of the European Union. Practitioners such as Dr Pillep help innovative businesses navigate this landscape — securing rights, conducting due diligence on transactions, and defending or challenging patents and trademarks where disputes arise.

Corporate INTL Global Awards 2026

The Corporate INTL Global Awards 2026 — Intellectual Property Law Expert of the Year in Germany recognises Dr Bernhard Pillep of Kador & Partner for his individual expertise and long-standing contribution to intellectual property practice in Germany. For businesses and inventors seeking a technically grounded, internationally capable adviser on patents, trademarks and designs, Dr Pillep offers the combined benefit of scientific depth and extensive legal experience within one of Munich’s established IP firms.