Peter studied physics at Utrecht University, resulting in a masters degree in 1991. His main topics included solid state physics, and research at SRON, the Dutch institute for space research, where he studied CCD detectors for soft X-ray detection and spectroscopy. After obtaining his masters degree, Peter worked several years at Akzo Nobel Coatings for the Technology Centre Colorimetry, where he was the project manager for several research projects relating to the measurement and visual assessment of colour. Projects included taking into account gloss in the measurement and visual perception of colour and measurement of the colour of production batches. On 1 January 1995, after several years of research at the colorimetry department of Akzo Nobel, Peter started at the patent department of Akzo Nobel. There, he drafted and prosecuted patent applications in the field of coatings in many countries all over the world. He also performed patent clearance searches in the field of amorphous silicon photovoltaic cells, optical switches, and writable Compact Disks.In 1999, Peter made a career switch and joined a patent firm where he drafted and prosecuted patent applications for small and large companies. He also collaborated in several court cases (HA ZA 05-583) and filed several notices of opposition. He also conducted cases for the Boards of Appeal of the European Patent Office, resulting amongst others in decision T 0446/97.In 2006, Peter made a subsequent career switch and joined one of the largest patent firms in the Netherlands. There, he was the leading patent attorney in several successful court cases (Clyde Bergemann GmbH v. Magaldi, Court of Appeal The Hague, 13 July 2010, Case No. 200.023.759/01, and KG ZA 09-102). He also conducted opposition proceedings, resulting in withdrawal of the opposition against the client’s patent or lapse of the opposed patent.In 2011, Peter together with Ard Ellens founded ELLENS & VAN ESSENSpecialties: In his vast experience as a patent attorney, Peter handled patent cases in many different fields. For instance, electron beam lithography, tyre building apparatus, injection moulded bottle crates, software, packaging, incubators for eggs, building materials, photovoltaic solar cells, polymer applications, meat processing, electrically propelled vehicles, medical devices, agricultural machines, microfluidic devices. Currently, nano devices and renewable energy are topics I work on.