This year’s IP Corporate Strategy Summit will be virtual and will last two days (September 10 and 11). Managing IP and Cipher have grasped the opportunity to widen the event from Europe to a global audience. IP strategy is a topic that continues to evolve, and, now in its fourth year, this event has a strong following. With a fantastic line-up of speakers, we are excited to explore what this new format can deliver.
The programme includes sessions that cover the full spectrum of issues that sit at the heart of IP strategy:
· COVID-19 – however dramatic the impact of the pandemic has been, IP protects business for decades. This session will consider how IP has fared. The panel will cover the Open Covid Pledge, designed to ensure that patents don’t obstruct testing, treatment and cure. The session will also discuss how patent and trademark teams have coped at a time when all budgets are under scrutiny.
· IP risk mitigation – IP management now has its own ecosystem including organisations specifically focussed on NPE risk (RPX and LOT Network), destroying bad patents (Unified Patents), patent acquisition (AST) and patent risk associated with open source (OIN). The panel will also include a discussion of data as a new “IP right” and how organisations are tackling the significant legal and commercial issues associated with both the volume and value of data.
· Trade secrets – somewhat related to both the weaknesses in the patent system and the proliferation of data is trade secret protection. We are now seeing a wave of initiatives from blockchain, trade secret registers and insurance, all designed to help organisations crystallise their understanding of this “asset” and create better protection regimes.
· Clean and green – the quest to save the planet affects not only the move away from fossil fuels (a challenge for all energy and transportation companies) but all our natural resources and the urgent need to beat the challenge of recycling. The panel will look at the role IP will play in reshaping companies and sectors.
· The evolution of IP strategy – this regular fixture of this event focusses on alignment of IP strategy to corporate strategy. What used to be a sharing of aspirations is now real-world experience of how intangible assets and IP rights contribute to C-suite decision making.
The Cipher panel will be focussing on portfolio optimisation with the help of global heads of IP from ARM, Red Hat and others.
No IP strategy event would be complete without a consideration of 5G, and the economics of standard essential patents (SEPs). Bowman Heiden of the Center for Intellectual Property at the University of Gothenburg will present his views on whether the powerful monopolies created by SEP owners will stifle proliferation of this critical bundle of technologies.
We are also taking advantage of the virtual format to maximise the opportunities for networking, and have included a number of breakout sessions including on fintech, industrial automation (thanks Bruce Schelkopf of ABB for again supporting this event) and medtech.
Full details of the programme and how to register for the event can be found on the IP Corporate Strategy Summit website. Spaces are limited, so register early. For sponsorship opportunities, contact Aman Duggal at aman.duggal@euromoneyplc.com.
