Marco Montrone has a Master degree in Microbiology from  Ludwig Maximilians University in Munich and a PhD from the Max Planck Institute of Biochemistry in Martinsried, Germany. He joined the European Patent Office in 1997, where he is now a Senior Patent Examiner in the field of Biotechnology. On top of his 12-year long hands-on experience with the administrative aspects of IP protection, Marco has given workshops and lectures on different aspects of IP, in particular European Patent procedures, all over Europe and Japan. He is looking forward to his first visit to the Sultanate of Oman.