The annual conference 2014 of the German-French Lawyers' Association, in whose organisation lawyer Dr. Stefan Kettler, Maître en Droit, LL.M. of the law firm Lang & Rahmann played a decisive role, took place on 26 and 27 September 2014 in Cologne. This year's topic "Data Protection / Freedom of Information and Intellectual Property" received a great feedback, which was reflected not least in the pleasingly high number of registrations. More than 100 people took part in the conference.

The annual conference was opened in the Gaffel am Dom - and thus for the first time in the history of the DFJ in a brewery - by the chairman of the association, Dr. Jürgen Jekewitz. This first day was dedicated to freedom of information. Speakers were Mr. Edgar Wagner (State Commissioner for Data Protection and Freedom of Information in Rhineland-Palatinate), Mr. Laurent Lim (Juriste chargé de mission, Service des affaires européennes et internationales), Mr. Guy Stessens (General Secretary of the Council of the European Union, Directorate Affaires internes et Justice) and Mr. Christian Fischer (Government, Hamburg). Two of the four presentations were given in French. The presiding judge at the Regional Court, Dr. Dirk Esser, then gave a lecture on the much-discussed Redtube decisions of the Regional Court of Cologne based on the violation of copyright. The evening ended with a cocktail speech by Dr. Kettler on the topic "The Anglification of Legal Transactions - A Horror Without End", which was highly appreciated. Afterwards the evening ended with Kölschen specialities. The music of the famous Cologne singer Björn Heuser formed the appropriate musical background.

The second day took place mainly in the main building of the University of Cologne. Dr. Kettler started with a lecture on copyright, especially on the question of the legality of streaming videos on the Internet. Afterwards, the managing partner of PROOF-MANAGEMENT GmbH, Mr. Paul H. Malberg, legal assessor and economic detective, gave a lecture on the topic "Investigations in German companies - Many things are possible, but what is permitted? The entire afternoon was then devoted to patent law and in particular to the current status of patents with Community-wide effect and the Unified Patent Court. Speakers were Dr. Johannes Graf Ballestrem, LL.M. (lawyer), Dr. Klaus Grabinski (judge at the Federal Supreme Court) and Markus Hössle (Dipl.-Phys. and patent attorney). The conference ended with a dinner together in the historic "Hotel am Wasserturm".

Further information is callable under http://legalcareers.de/news_entries/1069-bericht-zur-jahrestagung-der-deutsch-franzosischen-juristenvereinigung-in-koln.