Institute of Law and Technology

The Institute of Law and Technology was established in 1991. From 14 May 1991 to 30 September 2016, Prof. Dr. Klaus Vieweg was its director. In the same time, he was Holder of the Chair of Civil Law, Law Computer Science and Data Security.

The Chair was renamed in 2002: Chair of Civil Law, Law Computer Science, Technology and Commercial Law. Since 01 October 2017, Prof. Dr. Franz Hofmann, LL.M. has been in charge of the Institute of Law and Technology. As the area of research was changed, the Chair was renamed again: Chair of Civil Law, Intellectual Property and Technology Law.

The research focus is illustrated by the Institute’s logo: The cogwheel represents traditional industries and consists of a binary code that stands for modern technology. It is held in green, the colour of Intellectual Property Law. The law is symbolized by a paragraph marker that side-lines digital change displayed by the bits and bytes of the cogwheel.

The Institute is part of the Faculty of Business, Economics and Law and creates – due to its area of research – a close link to the Faculty of Engineering of the Friedrich-Alexander-University Erlangen-Nuremberg.

Research activities and cooperation agreements with national and international character lead to a purview far beyond Erlangen.