Additional changes to this law followed. Gudrun Tiedemann, director of BioTop Berlin-Brandenburg , a biotechnology strategy group, describes the BioRegio competition as a decisive fresh impetus in the commercialisation of biotechnology. Another law was modified to permit scientists at universities and institutes to retain the rights to their intellectual property should they decide to leave their institution for a start-up company. As a result, more young German scientists are catching start-up fever and founding biotechnology companies. Federal states in Germany have a strong influence on industrial policy issues and determine how federal laws are implemented within their borders.
State governments grant permission for biotech research, production projects and field-testing.
All the German states have established regional support offices and programs. Baden Wuertemberg, for instance, establishes funding for biotech firms, provides venture capital and eases technology transfer. The states of Bavaria, Lower Saxony and North Rhine Westphalia provide supportive infrastructures and space to biotechnology start-ups. This sort of government support has encouraged both domestic and foreign investment in German biotechnology. For example, US companies are both investing in German firms and setting up their own operations in Germany.