Prof. Dr. Reto M. Hilty is currently the Director of the Max Planck Institute for Intellectual Property, Competition and Tax Law in Munich, Germany. He also holds a full professorship at the University of Zurich, a professorship in Technology and Information Law at ETH Zurich (Swiss Federal Institute of Technology Zurich), and is an Honorary Professor at LMU Munich (Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich).

Born on 27 January 1958 in Zurich, Switzerland, he first graduated in Mechanical Engineering from ETH Zurich and subsequently studied law at the University of Zurich Faculty of Law. He obtained his Doctor of Laws (Dr. iur.) from the University of Zurich in 1989. From 1994 to 1997, he served as Head of Department and a member of the Board of Directors of the Swiss Federal Institute of Intellectual Property. In 2000, he completed his Habilitation (postdoctoral lecture qualification) in civil law, intellectual property law, competition law, and media law at the University of Zurich.

As a renowned European expert in intellectual property, Professor Hilty has conducted in‑depth research in areas such as contract law in intellectual property, competition law in intellectual property, the protection of intellectual property and new technologies, as well as the international harmonisation of intellectual property protection. He has published extensively and enjoys a high international reputation. He is actively involved in numerous international intellectual property research organisations and wields considerable international influence. In 2007, he was appointed as the Yong Shook Lin Professor of Intellectual Property Law at the National University of Singapore; in the same year, he was appointed Honorary Professor at the Centre for Intellectual Property Studies of Zhongnan University of Economics and Law; and in August 2009, he was appointed Honorary Professor at Xiamen University.