Dennis Kretschmann

Dr. Dennis Kretschmann works both as a Technically Qualified Judge at the Unified Patent Court, and as a German and European Patent Attorney in his own Munich-based patent attorney firm, dk-ip. His judicial work comprises patent cases in the fields of electricity and physics, including communication and information technology. Dennis was appointed a Technically Qualified Judge when the UPC opened its doors in 2023. He has ruled on numerous standard-essential patents and in many FRAND cases. In his attorney work, Dennis focuses on the development and management of patent portfolios in the areas of physics, optics, electrical engineering, IT, and software. He represents clients in examination proceedings before the German and European patent offices, and in litigation proceedings before the German courts. In addition, Dennis provides counsel on technology transfer, licensing agreements, and employee invention law. Before founding his own firm in 2025, Dennis was a partner at Boehmert & Boehmert, where he acquired wide expertise in patent litigation matters. He regularly conducted patent infringement and nullity proceedings before the German courts including the Federal Court of Justice, and often coordinated cross-border infringement cases. Dennis has also been actively involved in several alternative dispute resolution proceedings, including both mediation and arbitration. He is a CEDR Accredited Mediator. Based on his own experience both as an attorney and as a judge, Dennis believes that the majority of patent cases could benefit greatly from alternative dispute resolution, and that these paths should be explored more frequently. Dennis studied physics at the Technical University of Braunschweig, and as Fulbright Scholar at the University of Tennessee / Oak Ridge National Laboratory, USA. For his PhD thesis, he undertook research at the Technical University of Braunschweig and the University of Cambridge in the area of quantum information science, and investigated how quintessential quantum physical properties can be utilized for transmitting, storing, and processing information. He extended his research as a German Academic Exchange Service (DAAD) scholar and postdoc at the University of Pavia in Italy. Dennis Kretschmann has worked in intellectual property law since 2007. Following his training with Boehmert & Boehmert, he was admitted as a German patent attorney in 2010. He has been an admitted representative before the European Patent Office and before the EU Intellectual Property Office since 2011. In 2014, he was appointed adjunct professor for intellectual property law at the National Taiwan University of Science and Technology (NTUST), Taiwan’s leading technical university. Dennis also regularly teaches European Patent Law at the Politecnico di Milano, Italy. Dennis is a co-author of Beck’s online commentary on the UPC, publishes widely and regularly speaks at conferences and workshops on German and European patent law. Dennis Kretschmann is a member of the Federal Association of German Patent Attorneys, UNION, the Licensing Executives Society (LES), the Association of Intellectual Property Experts (VPP), and the German Physical Society (DPG). Away from patent law, Dennis relishes expressionist art and drama. He is an enthusiastic traveller and also enjoys mountaineering, cycling and sailing.