Stellbrink & Partner Patent Attorneys

The founder Axel Stellbrink has been working as a patent attorney in Munich for more than 25 years. Axel advises companies, universities and other institutions on the topics of innovation and IP strategies in Europe, the US, Israel, China, Japan and Korea.
Axel Stellbrink graduated from the Technical University of Munich with a degree in Automation Engineering after working with Professor Milberg. He shortly qualified as a German and European Patent Attorney and amassed experience for over 20 years in one of the leading European patent law firms in Munich, eventually becoming a partner. He worked extensively in the area of IP prosecution, and became particularly known for high-profile national and multinational litigation cases. He is currently specializing in patent drafting and examination, as well as litigation.
Moreover, Axel is developing new data mining tools offering his clients a unique service in IP and IP protection matters.

Simon Michels is a German and European Patent Attorney, UPC Representative, as well as partner and founder of Stellbrink & Partner. His technical expertise includes software inventions, physics, engineering and medical technologies. Simon is well versed in patent drafting, patent prosecution, oppositions, appeals, German nullity proceedings (including appeals), German proceedings relating to patent infringement and preliminary injunctions, freedom to operate analyses, patent due diligence, as well as multi-national licensing negotiations and arbitrations. When qualifying as a patent attorney, Simon completed the exams to become European Patent Attorney within the top 6% and the German bar exams top of the class. His training also included an apprenticeship with the Higher Regional Court in Munich.
Before qualifying as a German and European Patent Attorney, Simon studied at ETH Zurich, University of Bonn and University of Cambridge. He graduated top of his class from ETH Zurich with an MSc in Interdisciplinary Sciences with majors in physics and physical chemistry. Simon also worked for a leading international business consultancy and for a start-up company. He is an alumnus of the Salem International College and of the Foundation of German Business (SDW). Simon is a regular speaker for patent law at IP congresses, universities, and startup events.

Irina Hummel started working in a patent law firm as a foreign correspondence clerk in 2005. In 2007 she began her training as a patent paralegal and successfully completed it in 2009. After that, she gained experience in various law firms and in different areas of IP law and became the team leader of a group of patent paralegals. As of 2015, she was part of establishing a new patent law firm and played a central role in organizing the office structure and implementing the office procedures. Also, the training of new patent paralegals and other staff members was part of her tasks.
Irina started at Stellbrink & Partner in 2022 as an IP Paralegal and Office Manager. She supports the law firm organization and her responsibilities include, among the usual tasks of a paralegal, the coordination of the paralegal team, distribution of work, as well as introducing new and updating existing office procedures.

Nadine Kellner started her training as a patent paralegal in 2011 and successfully completed it in 2014. For her outstanding academic achievements she received a certificate of honor from the state capital of Munich. After her training, Nadine took care of the instruction and supervision of new trainees in her former law firm. In 2015 she also did an exchange with a US law firm and worked in South Carolina for several weeks to gain a more comprehensive understanding of US patent law. After that, she also took over the function as substitute team leader and successfully completed a further training for “Team Leadership” in 2017 and 2018. Ever since, Nadine has acquired an extremely wide and varied range of expertise, which she applies confidently and purposefully in her now many years of professional experience.
Nadine joined Stellbrink & Partner in 2022 as an IP Paralegal and Co-Office Manager. Among the usual tasks of a paralegal, Nadine is also responsible for the professional and organizational development of the firm.

Lukas Huthmacher is a German and European patent attorney and a UPC Representative. He completed his training at Stellbrink & Partner, where he passed the German Patent Attorney examination with distinction and subsequently also successfully passed the European qualification examination. During his training, he also completed an internship at the Munich Regional Court I. Lukas is experienced in drafting and prosecuting patent applications, as well as in oppositions, appeals, German nullity proceedings, patent infringement proceedings and patent due diligences, and also advises our clients in other matters regarding Intellectual Property Rights.
Prior to his work in patent law, Lukas graduated from the University of Cambridge with a PhD in Physics. He was based in the Cavendish Laboratory where his experimental research focused on solid state quantum optics in the context of quantum computing and communications. Prior to that, Lukas obtained an MSc in Physics from ETH Zurich, including an exchange term at the National University of Singapore. During his studies he was funded by the Foundation of German Business (SDW).
Furthermore, Lukas worked as a research assistant in the Quantum Device Lab at ETH Zurich, as well as a consultant for a project on the optimisation of data management for a large automotive manufacturer and participated in science outreach projects explaining complex scientific topics to children.

Erjon Dauti is a European Patent Attorney. With a technical expertise in Electronics and Communications Engineering, Erjon serves clients in the electrical, computer and mechanical technologies. He prepares and prosecutes patents in the fields of robotics, computer software, automotive radar systems and laboratory devices.
One of Erjon’s core tasks is managing patent portfolios that extend over multiple jurisdictions including Europe, US, Japan and China. In addition, he helps start-ups in initiating or expanding their patent portfolios by identifying and prioritizing patentable technologies.
Before qualifying as a European Patent Attorney, Erjon graduated from the Technical University of Munich with distinction. During his studies, Erjon focused on electromagnetic wave theory, industrial wireless sensor networks, software defined radios and channel quality estimation.

Shweta Agarwal-Eames holds a Master’s degree in Astronomy and Astrophysics from the University of Manchester, UK, where she worked on data-based physics relating to the death of stars and the resulting supernova remnants at radio frequencies. She completed her Bachelor’s degree in Physics at the Miranda House college, University of Delhi, India and also briefly researched supernovae at X-ray frequencies at the Max Planck Institute for extra-terrestrial Physics, Germany.
Her background in astrophysics includes a strong foundation in computer programming, as well as scientific writing, instrumentation and signal treatment. These competencies give her a strong footing for approaching various technical innovations encountered as a patent attorney trainee.
Outside of science, Shweta has pursued many side projects, ranging from working alongside an environmental NGO to teaching underprivileged children in India.
As Patent Attorney Trainee, Shweta assists and advises our clients on patent and other matters relating to Intellectual Property Rights.

Jutta Blumberg is a German and European Patent Attorney and a UPC Representative. Her technical expertise covers all fields of chemistry and biotechnology. Jutta has many years of experience in drafting and prosecuting patent applications up to grant before the German Patent Office and the European Patent Office. She has conducted many opposition proceedings before both offices. Her expertise also extends to freedom-to-operate analyses and the strategic management of patent portfolios.
Before working as a patent attorney, Jutta studied chemistry at the University of Cologne. After graduating as a chemist, she obtained her doctorate in the field of molecular plant genetics at the Max Planck Institute for Plant Breeding Research in Cologne.
After a good 20 years as a freelance patent attorney/European Patent Attorney in Munich, she worked for ten years in the patent department of BASF Personal Care and Nutrition GmbH in Düsseldorf. There she was initially responsible for the Emollients portfolio and then the UV Filters portfolio.
Jutta has been part of the Stellbrink & Partner team since October 2024.

Andrea Hauenstein started her training as a paralegal in the field of intellectual property law in September 2001 with a patent attorney in Munich, and successfully completed her training in July 2003. After her training, she worked in different patent law firms in Munich, and gathered experience also as an assistant head of administration, working on establishing and structuring workflows and processes of a patent law firm. She was also supervising the paralegal trainees.
Since September 2016, Andrea is working at Stellbrink & Partner as an IP paralegal. She is responsible for monitoring cases and deadlines, as well as administration and implementation of workflows/processes in our law firm. Andrea also holds a Bachelor’s degree in Business Administration & Business Psychology.

Moira moved to Munich in 2015, having completed her studies of a Bachelors of Arts Degree and a Masters in Philosophy at the University College Cork, Ireland.
In Munich she completed a supplementary course in Intercultural Communication and Cooperation with the Hochschule für Angewandte Wissenschaft Munich in 2016. Having gathered further experience in various professional environments in assistance and administrative roles, Moira commenced training as a paralegal in 2018. She successfully completed this training and qualified in 2020. Since then, Moira has pursued developing her professional expertise and is responsible for correspondence with clients and intellectual property offices as well as monitoring the associated deadlines.

Originally, Sabine Schweyer worked in the insolvency field, specifically in the sector of private insolvency proceedings, for several years. As a supervisor, she has been responsible for, among other things, the training and support of employees, as well as the organization of two office moves. At the same time, she studied art history at the LMU in Munich. After that, she first completed further training as a patent attorney secretary in order to get to know the profession and then, from 2016, she attended vocational school part-time. In 2018, Sabine successfully passed the examination to become a qualified IP paralegal and then worked in a medium-sized law firm as partner secretary. In 2023, Sabine started working at Stellbrink & Partner, where she monitors deadlines, communicates with clients and offices, and takes care of annuity fee payments for her own client base.

Karin Gensrich’s broad background includes serving the German Navy as a specialist for modern weapon systems and as a nautical officer. Karin also served on commercial vessels travelling worldwide. She then studied Nautical Science at the Elsfleth University of Applied Sciences and spent two semesters at the Plymouth Polytechnic, in England. As she was particularly interested in the field of ship automation, she furthered her skills by studying Computer Science at the Munich University of Applied Sciences. She went on to found and lead a company providing computer solutions for mid-sized entities. A number of professional activities in foreign cultural spheres considerably expanded her worldview.
Karin has attended a Training Course on European Patent Law under the responsibility of the University of Strasbourg. She is responsible for the coordination of research and analytics.

Aniket Agrawal obtained his doctoral degree (Dr. rer. nat.) with a focus on cosmology from the Ludwig Maximilians University of Munich, graduating with magna cum laude. He carried out his doctoral research at the Max Planck Institute for Astrophysics, where he was awarded the Rudolf Kippenhahn Preis for his work on early Universe cosmology. Before that, he obtained a Master of Science degree in Physics also from LMU Munich and a Bachelor of Technology degree in Engineering Physics from the Indian Institute of Technology in Delhi, India.
Aniket also worked at the Academia Sinica Institute of Astronomy and Astrophysics in Taiwan focusing on using distances to far-away galaxies and supernovae to determine the age and composition of our Universe. During the course of his formal education he has been supported by several research fellowships, including a UK-India Education and Research Initiative Fellowship and a grant from the John Templeton Foundation.
Outside of science, he has worked with Indian NGOs, particularly with the National Association for the Blind where he helped digitalize printed content and with Missionaries of Charity, where he taught young children in elementary school.
Aniket currently qualifies as a patent attorney at our firm in Munich, assisting and advising our clients on patents and other matters relating to Intellectual Property Rights.

Reem Al Fata holds a Master’s degree in Neuroengineering from the Technical University of Munich, where she worked on resonator networks for neuromorphic chips and their impact in the neuromorphic vision field. She completed her Bachelor’s degree in Computer and Communication Engineering at the Notre-Dame University, Lebanon, briefly researched parylene-based brain electrodes at the Technical University of Munich, and also worked on innovative UAV data transmission methods in Munich.
Her mixed background focusing on neurology and machine vision includes a strong foundation in computer programming, artificial intelligence, signal processing, as well as scientific writing. These competencies give her a strong footing for approaching various technical innovations encountered as a patent attorney trainee.
As Patent Attorney Trainee, Reem assists and advises our clients on patent and other matters relating to Intellectual Property Rights.

Andrea Marino earned a doctoral degree (Dr. Rer. Nat) in physics from the Technical University of Dresden, with focus on the field of strongly correlated quantum materials. His doctoral research was conducted at the Max Planck Institute for Chemical Physics of Solids and centered on the understanding of the electronic properties of complex materials through the application of advanced spectroscopic techniques and the simulation of quantum systems.
Prior to that, Andrea obtained his BSc and MSc in Engineering Physics from Politecnico di Milano, thus developing a sound expertise in fundamental science and an engineering. These attributes provide a solid groundwork for challenges in innovation and technology.
As Patent Attorney Trainee, Andrea is responsible for assisting and advising clients on matters related to patents and Intellectual Property Rights.

Margarita Yaskova supports us as a team assistant. Margarita began her professional career in customer service, gaining five years of experience across various industries. As a freelance childcare provider in London, she combined her multilingual skills to teach German, English, and Russian, while managing diverse responsibilities in child education. Margarita later transitioned into the travel industry, where she worked as a travel advisor, specializing in cross-sales and ensuring high customer satisfaction. With a strong foundation in music education, she has taught group classes, including sessions tailored to students with special needs, demonstrating her versatility and patience as an educator. Margarita earned her degree in Music Pedagogy from the Johannes-Brahms Conservatory in Hamburg. Her extensive international experiences, including travels throughout Europe and New Zealand, have further developed her cultural adaptability, problem-solving abilities, and interpersonal skills.

Vinordas Petkus graduated with the highest First-Class Honours BSc degree in Biotechnology from the University of Manchester. His academic achievements include a thesis on plant resistance to nitrogen stress and a literature review on bioethanol fuel production. During his studies, he gained expertise in synthetic biology, microbiology, and green biotechnology.
Vinordas began his professional career as a Patent Attorney Trainee at a leading IP law firm in Lithuania, successfully passing the European Qualifying Examination Pre-Examination in 2021. He further refined his expertise during a traineeship in patent examination at the European Patent Office in Munich, where he specialized in DNA analysis technologies. In this role, he evaluated biotechnological patent applications, conducted prior art searches, and drafted opinions on novelty and inventive step.
Currently, Vinordas is pursuing an MSc in Biology at the Technical University of Munich, specializing in Biochemistry, Cell Biology, Genomics, Biostatistics, and Medical Biology.
As a Patent Attorney Trainee, Vinordas assists and advises clients on patent-related matters and other aspects of Intellectual Property Rights.