Legal advice for GDCh members

Further information on the labor law hotline

It was a frequently expressed wish of our members: Advice on labor law issues. With lawyer Christian Vogt, specialist lawyer for labor law from Frankfurt a. M, an expert is available for brief telephone advice for GDCh members. Christian Vogt has been admitted as a specialist lawyer for labor law since 2000 and has extensive experience in this field. The labor lawyer has been available for telephone inquiries via a specially set up hotline since 2005. The GDCh labor law hotline is intended to be an initial orientation for those seeking advice and not a comprehensive legal analysis. The talk time is therefore limited to a maximum of ten minutes. Experience shows that during this time important explanations can be given for most questions that will help the inquirer. The free service is exclusive to GDCh members . Members can find the telephone number of the GDCh labor law hotline and further details here.

Three questions for Christian Vogt:

What experience do you have in the field of labor law?

I have been a lawyer since 1995 and have dealt with labor law from the start. I have been admitted as a specialist lawyer for labor law since March 2000. I have been in charge of the hotline of a medium-sized professional association since 1999, where I also answer questions about labor law.

Is it possible to deal exhaustively with a labor law topic in five to ten minutes?

Some standard questions can actually be answered in a few minutes. In the case of complex issues, a brief telephone consultation cannot and should of course not replace personal consultation. But you can provide initial help, quasi "point the right direction" to the person seeking advice, for example to point out important deadlines or special features that the layperson has not yet seen.

How can people seeking advice prepare to talk to you?

Callers should prepare important documents such as employment contracts, etc. beforehand so that they can answer queries quickly. You should also describe your problem briefly and concisely so that there is enough time to answer it. You can read an interview with Christian Vogt in the "Nachrichten aus der Chemie", December 2005, page 1294 or here as a PDF (two pages, 100 kb).

Further information on the Patent Law hotline

It has been a wish of our members for a long time: Advice on patent law issues. With patent attorney Dr. Thomas Seuss, Berlin, is now an experienced expert for brief telephone advice for GDCh members. He is already known to GDCh members from his monthly column in the Nachrichten aus der Chemie . After studying chemistry and doing his doctorate, Seuss joined the patent department of Schering AG. As a part-time job, he qualified as a European patent attorney in 1998 and became Head of the patent department at Schering in 2001. He has been working for the Berlin patent law firm JUNGBLUT & SEUSS for several years. In 2004 he was an expert for the German Bundestag in the implementation of the biotechnology patent directive. Dr. Thomas Seuß is available for telephone inquiries from GDCh members via a specially set up hotline. The GDCh Patent Law hotline will provide initial guidance for those seeking advice and is not intended to be a legal analysis. The talk time is therefore limited to a maximum of ten minutes. Experience shows that during this time important explanations can be given for most questions that will help the inquirer. The free service is exclusive to GDCh members. Members can find the telephone number of the GDCh patent law hotline and further details here.

Four questions for Dr. Thomas Seuss:

1. What experience do you have in the field of patent law?

I have been working in the field of patents since 1994. After studying chemistry, I initially worked in the patent department at Schering AG in Berlin. I also spent some time abroad in this capacity. From 2002 to 2005 I was Head of the patent department before I set up my own law firm as a patent attorney in 2006. Also since 2006 I've been writing my regular column in the Nachrichten aus der Chemie.

2. Why a hotline next to the column?

For technical reasons, it takes at least three months from sending a question to being printed in the column. A lot can have happened during this period. B. Deadlines have been irretrievably missed. I have had to come into direct contact with the questioners several times in order to ensure that those seeking advice do not suffer any disadvantages. The introduction of a hotline could help here. I have also noticed that many inquiries are incomplete: information is often missing without which the question cannot be answered correctly. The telephone consultation makes it easier to inquire here. In addition, some questions are unsuitable for inclusion in the column, for example because they are too complex. In such cases I sometimes modify the questions to make them answerable. However, this does not help the questioner very much, as he may hardly recognize his own question. In this case too, I hope that the hotline will bring some relief.

3. Is it possible to deal exhaustively with a patent law topic in five to ten minutes?

Some standard questions can actually be answered in a few minutes. In the case of complex issues, a brief telephone consultation cannot and should of course not replace personal consultation. But you can give initial help, show the person seeking advice "the direction of the march", for example, point out important deadlines, costs or other peculiarities that the layperson may not have seen yet. Especially when it comes to questions of employee invention law, it is important to keep in mind that the employee is usually still employed. I would also like to protect the questioners from frivolously jeopardizing the relationship.

4. How can people seeking advice prepare to talk to you?

Callers should prepare important documents such as patent documents, publications, etc. beforehand in order to be able to answer queries quickly. You should also describe your problem briefly and concisely so that there is enough time to answer it.