Joseph Straus

Joseph Straus is professor of law at the Universities of Munich and Ljubljana and director emeritus of the Max Planck Institute for Innovation and Competition in Munich. He is also an academic affiliate of the International Center for Law & Economics.

His research focuses on intellectual-property law, especially European and international patent law, the protection of biotechnological inventions, technology transfer, and international intellectual-property governance.

Straus previously served as director of the Max Planck Institute for Intellectual Property, Competition and Tax Law and has long taught European and German patent law at Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich. He has also been a visiting professor at Cornell Law School, the George Washington University Law School, and the University of Toronto Faculty of Law. Earlier in his career, he practiced law before joining the Max Planck Institute as a scientific member.

He has held numerous professional leadership roles, including president of the International Association for the Advancement of Teaching and Research in Intellectual Property, chair of the Intellectual Property Rights Committee of the Human Genome Organisation, and adviser to international organizations and governments on intellectual-property policy.

His distinctions include the Science Award of the Foundation for German Science, the Commander’s Cross of the Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany, the Venice Intellectual Property Award, induction into the Intellectual Asset Management Intellectual Property Hall of Fame, and two honorary doctorates. He is also a member of Academia Europaea and the European Academy of Sciences and Arts.

He earned a doctorate in law from Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich and a law diploma from the University of Ljubljana.