Gerhard Schricker

Gerhard Schricker (25June 19356April 2021VG Wort, "Professor Dr. Gerhard Schricker, ehemaliges ehrenamtliches Mitglied des Vorstands und Ehrenmitglied der VG WORT, ist verstorben" (9 April 2021) accessed 15 April 2021.) was a German legal scholar with a focus on intellectual property and competition law.Ulrich Loewenheim, "Wissenschaftlicher Weg und wissenschaftliches Werk Gerhard Schrickers" in Max-Planck-Institut für Geistiges Eigentum, Wettbewerbs- und Steuerrecht (ed), Im Dienste des Geistigen Eigentums: Festansprachen aus Anlass der Emeritierung von Professor Dr.jur. Dr.jur.h.c.mult. Gerhard Schricker und des 100. Geburtstages von Professor Dr.jur. Dr.jur.h.c. Eugen Ulmer: 26. Juni 2003 (2003) 31. He was a full professor at LMU Munich from 1973 to 2000 and served as Director of the Munich-based Max Planck Institute for Foreign and International Patent, Trademark, and Copyright Law (now the Max Planck Institute for Innovation and Competition) between 1971 and 2003.

Life Schricker was born in Nuremberg and studied law at LMU Munich with stays at the University of Padua and the University of Salamanca.Ansgar Ohly, "Gerhard Schricker on his 85th Birthday" (2020) 69 GRUR-Int 671, 671. Having passed his first Staatsexamen with the (rarely awarded) highest possible grade (sehr gut – very good),Andreas Heldrich, "Verleihung der Rudolf-Callmann-Medaille an Prof. Dr. Dr. h.c. mult. Gerhard Schricker am 10. 7. 2006: Laudatio" (2006) 108 GRUR 916, 916. he became a research assistant in 1960 at the LMU's Institute for Foreign and International Patent, Trademark, and Copyright Law.Ulrich Loewenheim, "Wissenschaftlicher Weg und wissenschaftliches Werk Gerhard Schrickers" in Max-Planck-Institut für Geistiges Eigentum, Wettbewerbs- und Steuerrecht (ed), Im Dienste des Geistigen Eigentums: Festansprachen aus Anlass der Emeritierung von Professor Dr.jur. Dr.jur.h.c.mult. Gerhard Schricker und des 100. Geburtstages von Professor Dr.jur. Dr.jur.h.c. Eugen Ulmer: 26. Juni 2003 (2003) 29. Under the supervision of Eugen Ulmer, Schricker commenced a doctorate and in 1961 became Doctor of Law summa cum laude with a thesis on misleading advertisement under Italian competition law in comparison to German competition law.Ulrich Loewenheim, "Gerhard Schricker zum 70. Geburtstag" (2005) 58 NJW 1762, 1762; Andreas Heldrich, "Verleihung der Rudolf-Callmann-Medaille an Prof. Dr. Dr. h.c. mult. Gerhard Schricker am 10. 7. 2006: Laudatio" (2006) 108 GRUR 916, 917. He completed his second Staatsexamen in 1964.Verlag C.H. Beck, "Prof. Dr. Dr. h.c. mult. Gerhard Schricker" accessed 15 April 2021.

From 1966, he worked as a senior researcher at the newly founded Max Planck Institute for Foreign and International Patent, Trademark, and Copyright Law.Ulrich Loewenheim, "Gerhard Schricker zum 70. Geburtstag" (2005) 58 NJW 1762, 1762. While at the institute, Schricker pursued a habilitation, again under Eugen Ulmer's supervision, and in 1969 received his venia legendi in the areas of "Civil Law, Trade Law, Intellectual Property, and Comparative Private Law" from LMU.Ulrich Loewenheim, "Wissenschaftlicher Weg und wissenschaftliches Werk Gerhard Schrickers" in Max-Planck-Institut für Geistiges Eigentum, Wettbewerbs- und Steuerrecht (ed), Im Dienste des Geistigen Eigentums: Festansprachen aus Anlass der Emeritierung von Professor Dr.jur. Dr.jur.h.c.mult. Gerhard Schricker und des 100. Geburtstages von Professor Dr.jur. Dr.jur.h.c. Eugen Ulmer: 26. Juni 2003 (2003) 29f. His habilitation thesis, a comparative study of the relationship between breaches of statutory duties and the concept of unfair competition, quickly became a standard work in the field and helped shape German competition law jurisprudence.Ansgar Ohly, "Gerhard Schricker on his 85th Birthday" (2020) 69 GRUR-Int 671, 671; Ulrich Loewenheim, "Gerhard Schricker zum 70. Geburtstag" (2005) 58 NJW 1762, 1762. In 1970, Schricker became a Scientific Member of the Max Planck Society.Ulrich Loewenheim, "Wissenschaftlicher Weg und wissenschaftliches Werk Gerhard Schrickers" in Max-Planck-Institut für Geistiges Eigentum, Wettbewerbs- und Steuerrecht (ed), Im Dienste des Geistigen Eigentums: Festansprachen aus Anlass der Emeritierung von Professor Dr.jur. Dr.jur.h.c.mult. Gerhard Schricker und des 100. Geburtstages von Professor Dr.jur. Dr.jur.h.c. Eugen Ulmer: 26. Juni 2003 (2003) 30.

In 1971, after declining two offers of a full professorship by the universities of Hamburg and Würzburg, Gerhard Schricker became co-director of the Max Planck Institute for Foreign and International Patent, Trademark, and Copyright Law (alongside Eugen Ulmer and Friedrich-Karl Beier).Ansgar Ohly, "Gerhard Schricker zum 70. Geburtstag" (2005) 107 GRUR 889, 892. Two years later, he was also appointed to the Chair of Trade and Economic Law, Industrial Property, and Copyright at LMU. He served as Dean of the Faculty of Law for a term beginning in 1979.Ulrich Loewenheim, "Gerhard Schricker zum 70. Geburtstag" (2005) 58 NJW 1762, 1762; Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München, Personen- und Vorlesungsverzeichnis für das Wintersemester 1979/80 (Verlag Uni-Druck 1980) 20. Following the retirement of Friedrich-Karl Beier in 1991, Schricker became the sole Managing Director of the Max Planck Institute, a position that he held until 2001.Ulrich Loewenheim, "Wissenschaftlicher Weg und wissenschaftliches Werk Gerhard Schrickers" in Max-Planck-Institut für Geistiges Eigentum, Wettbewerbs- und Steuerrecht (ed), Im Dienste des Geistigen Eigentums: Festansprachen aus Anlass der Emeritierung von Professor Dr.jur. Dr.jur.h.c.mult. Gerhard Schricker und des 100. Geburtstages von Professor Dr.jur. Dr.jur.h.c. Eugen Ulmer: 26. Juni 2003 (2003) 30; Gerhard Schricker, "Friedrich-Karl Beier" (1998) 51 NJW 515, 515. He retired as professor in 2000, having supervised six habilitation and more than 180 dissertation theses.Ulrich Loewenheim, "Wissenschaftlicher Weg und wissenschaftliches Werk Gerhard Schrickers" in Max-Planck-Institut für Geistiges Eigentum, Wettbewerbs- und Steuerrecht (ed), Im Dienste des Geistigen Eigentums: Festansprachen aus Anlass der Emeritierung von Professor Dr.jur. Dr.jur.h.c.mult. Gerhard Schricker und des 100. Geburtstages von Professor Dr.jur. Dr.jur.h.c. Eugen Ulmer: 26. Juni 2003 (2003) 35.

Schricker was president of the German ALAI group from 1982 through 1998. He was a member of the Executive Committee of the German Association for the Protection of Intellectual Property (GRUR) for 27 years and headed GRUR's Standing Committee on Copyright and Publishing Law for more than 20.Hans Peter Kunz-Hallstein and Michael Loschelder, "Grußwort für Prof. Dr. Dr. hc. mult. Gerhard Schricker zum 75. Geburtstag" (2010) 112 GRUR 697, 697. From 1990 through 2004, he was a volunteer member of the Board of Directors of VG Wort, the second-largest German collective management organization.

Gerhard Schricker died in April 2021. According to a death announcement by his family, his death followed a "prolonged and severe illness".Ulrike Gräfin Yorck von Wartenburg-Schricker and others, "Gerhard Schricker" Süddeutsche Zeitung (Munich, 10 April 2021) 26. See also Max-Planck-Institut für Innovation und Wettbewerb, "In Gedenken an Gerhard Schricker (1935-2021)" (15 April 2021) accessed 9 May 2021.

Awards and honours Gerhard Schricker was awarded the Great Cross of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany in 2001.Ansgar Ohly, "Gerhard Schricker zum 70. Geburtstag" (2005) 107 GRUR 889, 891. In the same year, he was conferred membership in the Academia Europaea.Academia Europaea, "Gerhard Schricker" accessed 15 April 2021. He was made an honorary member of VG Wort in 2004. In 2006, Schricker was awarded the Rudolf Callmann Medal by GRUR."Verleihung der Rudolf-Callmann-Medaille an Prof. Dr.Dr.h.c. mult. Gerhard Schricker am 10. 7. 2006" (2006) 108 GRUR 915. He held honorary doctorates from the Université libre de Bruxelles, Stockholm University, and Yonsei University (Seoul).Ansgar Ohly, "Gerhard Schricker on his 85th Birthday" (2020) 69 GRUR-Int 671, 672.

A festschrift edited by Friedrich-Karl Beier was published in 1995 in honour of Gerhard Schricker on the occasion of his 60th birthday.Friedrich-Karl Beier (ed), Urhebervertragsrecht: Festgabe für Gerhard Schricker zum 60. Geburtstag (Beck 1995). Rather unusually for the genre, the contributions were interdependent and effectively formed a self-contained 900-page study of copyright contract law.Cf Eike Ullmann, "Urhebervertragsrecht" (1996) 49 NJW 502, 502f. In 2003, a low-circulation booklet (dubbed a "mini 'festschrift'" in the preface) was published by Munich's Max Planck Institute; it contained the addresses given at a celebratory event on the occasion of Gerhard Schricker's retirement and Eugen Ulmer's 100th birthday.Max-Planck-Institut für Geistiges Eigentum, Wettbewerbs- und Steuerrecht (ed), Im Dienste des Geistigen Eigentums: Festansprachen aus Anlass der Emeritierung von Professor Dr.jur. Dr.jur.h.c.mult. Gerhard Schricker und des 100. Geburtstages von Professor Dr.jur. Dr.jur.h.c. Eugen Ulmer: 26. Juni 2003 (2003). In the same year, the institute also dedicated to Schricker a comprehensive directory of publications by Max Planck Institute researchers.Joseph Straus (ed), Das Max-Planck-Institut für Ausländisches und Internationales Patent-, Urheber- und Wettbewerbsrecht im Spiegel seiner Veröffentlichungen (Beck 2003). Two separate festschriften, one of which on the topic of Japanese copyright law, were punlished in 2005 to celebrate Schricker's 70th birthday.Ansgar Ohly and others (eds), Perspektiven des Geistigen Eigentums und des Wettbewerbsrechts: Festschrift für Gerhard Schricker zum 70. Geburtstag (Beck 2005); Peter Ganea, Christopher Heath, and Hiroshi Saitô (eds), Japanese Copyright Law: Writings in Honour of Gerhard Schricker (Kluwer 2005).

Positions Schricker was opposed to attempts by German courts to impose a "threshold of creativity" (Gestaltungshöhe) requirement for the copyright protection of some categories of works, which he believed to raise the bar for protection in contravention of international and European law.Gerhard Schricker, "Abschied von der Gestaltungshöhe im Urheberrecht?" in Jürgen Becker, Peter Lerche, and Ernst-Joachim Mestmäcker (eds), Wanderer zwischen Musik, Politik und Recht: Festschrift für Reinhold Kreile zu seinem 65. Geburtstag (Nomos 1994) 716ff. In his view, not protecting works with a low degree of originality would constitute a "significant loss of substance" for copyright law, give rise to demarcation problems, and erode the foundation of substantial parts of the copyright industries.Gerhard Schricker, "Abschied von der Gestaltungshöhe im Urheberrecht?" in Jürgen Becker, Peter Lerche, and Ernst-Joachim Mestmäcker (eds), Wanderer zwischen Musik, Politik und Recht: Festschrift für Reinhold Kreile zu seinem 65. Geburtstag (Nomos 1994) 720. See also Gerhard Schricker in Gerhard Schricker (ed), Urheberrecht (1st edn, Beck 1987), Einleitung para 30.