In 2026, our patent law firm in Velbert celebrates its 75th anniversary. Founded in Düsseldorf in 1951, based in Velbert-Langenberg since 1959, today with an additional office in Berlin – and family-run throughout.
1951: a firm founded in a period of reconstruction
When Ernst E. Weisse † founded the firm "Weisse", the German IP system itself was still being rebuilt. The Reichspatentamt in Berlin had ceased operations in 1945. Only on 1 October 1949 did the German Patent Office start work in Munich – provisionally in the library wing of the Deutsches Museum, with a staff of 423. By 1951 that number had grown to almost 1,200, and the novelty examination, suspended in 1949 for lack of staff, was reintroduced at the end of 1951.
It was into this environment that Ernst E. Weisse founded his firm. He brought industry experience with him, having headed the patent department of the Askania works in Berlin for many years.
1959: the move to Velbert-Langenberg
The move in 1959 had a simple reason: the firm had grown and needed larger premises. That the choice fell on Velbert-Langenberg was a private matter – the Weisse family had bought a house there and moved in themselves. In the same year Dipl.-Phys. Jürgen Weisse †, the founder's son, joined the firm.
What began as a practical decision turned out to be fortunate. Velbert is Germany's "Schlüsselregion": lock and fitting technology, tool making and mechanical engineering have shaped the Bergisches Land to this day. Where things are designed and manufactured, inventions arise – and so a good part of the firm's later clientele sat right on the doorstep.
Four generations
In 1972 Dipl.-Chem. Dr. Rudolf Wolgast † joined, and the firm traded as "Weisse & Wolgast" from then on. In 1997 Dipl.-Phys. Jörg Weisse joined as the third generation, and in 2006 Dipl.-Phys. Nicolas Moltmann broadened the team. In 2013 the Velbert firm merged with the Munich firm Willems – since then, Patentanwälte Weisse, Moltmann & Willems. In 2023 M.Sc. Philip Weisse joined as the fourth generation. We are probably the only patent law firm in Germany to be led by four generations in direct succession.
Portraits of the founding generation and historical documents from the firm's early years can be found on our history page.
What has changed – and what has not
The legal framework today is entirely different. Alongside the national patent, we now have the European Patent Office, the PCT, the EU trade mark, the registered Community design and, most recently, the Unitary Patent with the Unified Patent Court. Files are electronic, searches take minutes rather than weeks, and matters are handled across time zones.
The actual task has stayed the same: understand a technical idea, identify its core and turn it into a right that holds up when it is challenged. That work still begins with a conversation between inventor and patent attorney.
Thank you
An anniversary is above all an occasion to say thank you – to our clients, some of whom have been with us for decades, to our staff, and to the colleagues in Germany and abroad with whom we work.
1951 – 2026: innovation across generations.