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🎯 IP Management Pulse #52
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Your inbox-insider from Prof. Wurzer every two weeks
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Here are the hot topics from 18. December 2025 - 14. January 2026
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NEWS
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Rising IP awareness in China | Patent wars over streaming-capable devices | Global sports brand enforcement | Malicious trademark squatting: 2026 report by CNIPA
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RESSOUCES
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The email course business development | How to use as an IP expert the IPBA Connect Platform
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DEEP DIVES
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The human side of authority: balancing confidence, vulnerability, and authenticity as an expert | EPO – I3PM – CEIPI IP Business Academy IP Strategy Bootcamp: Turning “IP” into a Board-Level Capability | Authenticity in Digital IP Business Development: Bringing the Human Factor Back into Visibility | Mastering Global Markets
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IP MANAGEMENT LEARNINGS
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How Sumitomo Turned the Dunlop Brand into a Global IP Power Asset
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🤗 🍵 I wish you an exciting and informative read. I look forward to your comments and our exchange on LinkedIn.
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Rising IP awareness in China
The 52nd HKTDC Hong Kong Toys & Games Fair in January 2026 illustrates how intellectual property is becoming an explicit theme at major trade fairs in China. The event introduces the “Pop & Play” pavilion, showcasing around 150 character-driven IPs, particularly in toys and collectibles. A seminar on the growth of the IP economy complements the product exhibitions. Together, these elements show that IP is increasingly presented as a commercial and strategic asset, not merely a legal background issue.
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What IP experts can learn from it
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For IP experts, the key takeaway is that IP awareness is now embedded directly into commercial platforms such as trade fairs. Dedicated IP pavilions and educational sessions demonstrate how IP value is communicated to buyers, partners, and the public. This underlines the need for IP strategies that can be clearly explained in business contexts and for advising clients on how to actively present and leverage their IP in market-facing settings.
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Background information on the IPBA Connect platform
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From IP Awareness Building to Business Development on the 🌱Resource Hub
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Patent wars over streaming-capable devices
The settlement between Nokia and Hisense shows that while the competitive battles between streaming platforms have largely subsided, patent conflicts around streaming-enabled devices continue. The dispute concerned video coding patents used in smart TVs, with Nokia asserting its patent portfolio against Hisense across several jurisdictions. The conflict was resolved through a licence agreement, leading to the end of the ongoing litigation. This case illustrates that the technological foundations enabling streaming, such as video compression and coding standards, continue to be a focal point of patent enforcement.
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What IP experts can learn from it
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For IP experts, the key takeaway is that competitive pressure in the streaming ecosystem has moved from content and platforms to the underlying device technologies. Patent risk does not disappear when service-based markets mature; it often relocates to the foundational infrastructure and standard-based components. This underlines the importance of advising device manufacturers on freedom-to-operate, standard-essential patent risks, and global licensing strategies. It also shows that negotiated licences remain a central tool for managing IP risks and monetising patents in technology markets where litigation spans multiple jurisdictions.
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Background information on the IPBA Connect platform
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The Internet of Things Meets SEP Licensing on the 📑IP Management Letters
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Global sports brand enforcement
As the anticipation for the 2026 FIFA World Cup grows, global sports brands are intensifying the enforcement of their brand portfolios prior to one of the world’s most economically relevant sports tournaments. Sponsors and rights-holders are integrating anti-counterfeiting and trademark protection into early event preparation rather than waiting until unauthorised use surges. Adidas, for example, started pre-tournament enforcement against infringing e-commerce platforms ahead of expected demand spikes to safeguard distribution channels. Brands are treating brand enforcement as a strategic component of event planning to safeguard official merchandise and maintain the integrity of sponsorship agreements during the tournament period.
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What IP experts can learn from it
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For IP experts, the key takeaway is that mega sports events heighten the importance of proactive brand enforcement. Rights-holders are shifting from reactive takedowns to early, strategic anti-counterfeiting programmes. This underscores the need to advise clients on integrated enforcement strategies that align with the commercial timelines of major events, including pre-event monitoring, distribution channel controls, and coordination with rights-holders and sponsors. In high-visibility arenas such as world championships, enforcement efforts can materially affect brand value, sponsorship revenues, and consumer perceptions, making early planning and comprehensive trademark protection indispensable.
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Background information on the IPBA Connect platform
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Strategic Rebranding: Balancing Identity, Image, and Trademark Risk on the 📑IP Management Letters
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Malicious trademark squatting: 2026 report by CNIPA
China’s National Intellectual Property Administration (CNIPA) released an excerpt of its 2026 Directors’ Conference work report on January 7, 2026, outlining key objectives for intellectual property governance in the year ahead. Among those tasks is an explicit commitment to boost efforts against malicious trademark squatting. CNIPA intends to improve the handling of regional trademark registration and deal more quickly with trademarks that are malicious. These measures form part of broader initiative to further improve the legal and administrative framework for IP protection in China.
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What IP experts can learn from it
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For IP experts, the key takeaway is that malicious trademark squatting and other bad-faith filings are now formally recognised as a key issue at the highest level of China’s IP administration. The emphasis on good-faith principles signals a shift toward more proactive handling of registrations that undermine legitimate rights. IP advisors should be prepared to evaluate client's trademark strategies with an eye toward leveraging CNIPA’s targeted enforcement and administrative handling mechanisms. Maintaining robust trademark monitoring and early engagement with CNIPA’s evolving enforcement frameworks will be essential in effectively managing brand portfolios in the Chinese market.
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Resources on the IPBA Connect platform
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Strengthening Innovation: China’s Evolving IP Legal System on the 📑IP Management Letters
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In the 🌱Resource Hub, IP experts find ready-to-use playbooks, templates and tools to enhance positioning, visibility and client conversion. This section highlights selected resources and shows how they fit into modern, strategic IP practice.
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IP experts discuss the Email Course Business Development
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“The email course reframed business development as a long-term, sustainable activity. It’s not about pushing services, but about building visibility and trust over time. That mindset fits perfectly with how I want to work as an IP professional.”
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Alberto Burzio is Senior Director at IMG, a major company in the field of professional sports rights management. He has extensive experience in licensing and related business aspects.
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The Email Course Business Development
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The Email Course “Business Development for IP Experts” shows IP professionals how to turn expertise into mandates through clear positioning, trust-based communication and practical, low effort actions. It explains business development in an IP-specific way, without sales pressure or generic marketing tactics.
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BEST PRACTISE: How to use as an IP expert the IPBA Connect Platform
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“The opportunity to use various channels as a subject matter expert for the targeted creation of patent circumvention solutions has helped me to raise awareness for my focus topics in the relevant circles. Active support in publishing content makes it easy for me to share my knowledge with others. In this way, I have been able to generate interest among potential clients and establish valuable business contacts.”
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As founder and director of IP Research Ltd and Paradigm Shift (RTD) Ltd, Nicos helps R&D leaders break through conventional thinking to deliver differentiated paradigm-shifting products with a clear IP strategy.
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Nicos’ positioning is not “general IP advice” but a crisp promise: inventing around patents with clarity of function and structure. He shows in his communication how to turn a narrow, high-stakes capability — systematic patent circumvention — into a modern, reference-rich expert brand.
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Visible Council the IP Expert Branding Column
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The human side of authority: balancing confidence, vulnerability, and authenticity as an expert
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By columnist Giulia Donato, Brand & Communication Consultant at people and brand strategies
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The article explains that authority in IP and other expert fields is shifting from pure knowledge toward how expertise is experienced. While technical excellence remains essential, clients increasingly value orientation, judgment, and trust — especially in areas shaped by uncertainty and rapid change, such as AI-related IP. True authority is not dominance or constant certainty, but the ability to frame complexity, acknowledge uncertainty, and guide decisions responsibly. Confidence paired with professional vulnerability strengthens credibility rather than weakening it. In meetings, panels, and consulting work, experts who offer clear framing instead of exhaustive detail become trusted reference points. In the age of AI, human judgment, authenticity, and reliability differentiate experts from automated expertise.
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My Favorites from the 📝IP Business Academy Blog
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EPO – I3PM – CEIPI IP Business Academy IP Strategy Bootcamp: Turning “IP” into a Board-Level Capability
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The article presents the EPO – I3PM – CEIPI IP Business Academy IP Strategy Bootcamp, an online programme designed to help IP professionals turn intellectual property into a board-level capability. It comprises three live sessions in February and March 2026, combining analytical frameworks with the psychology of decision-making to address real challenges in organisations, such as pitching IP strategy to the C-suite. The main speakers are Benjamin Delsol covering the fundamentals and Maria Boicova-Wynants addressing the human side of IP decision-making. Participants engage in applied work, including individual case analyses and group assignments, and can earn an EPO certificate upon completing both assignments. The bootcamp emphasises collaboration across management, R&D, and IP/legal functions to elevate IP strategy beyond protection into a strategic business tool.
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Authenticity in Digital IP Business Development: Bringing the Human Factor Back into Visibility
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Digital business development is now unavoidable for IP professionals, but many still equate “digital” with polished yet detached self-promotion. The article argues for authentic digital visibility that connects real-world trust earned offline (meetings, referrals, speaking) with sustained online presence. Clients increasingly assess expertise through digital signals that feel human, clear, and consistent. The upcoming Expert Exchange hosted by Diana Taubert, managing partner at ETL IP, in Berlin will explore how to communicate authenticity without performance, frame business development as value-adding rather than marketing, link digital touchpoints to real interactions, and build sustainable workflows that make expertise both visible and credible online.
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My Favorite from the 🎧Podcast IP Management Voice
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#66 Mastering Global Markets
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The podcast episode explains that successful international market entry depends on integrating IP strategy from the very beginning, not treating it as a secondary legal task. Different legal systems, enforcement practices, and cultural norms strongly influence how patents, trademarks, and other IP rights function across jurisdictions. Companies that overlook these differences risk losing exclusivity, encountering trademark conflicts, or facing weak enforcement once they expand abroad. The episode outlines common IP pitfalls in international expansion and shows how early, structured IP decisions can support sustainable growth. IP is presented as a strategic tool that shapes market access, risk management, and long-term competitiveness across jurisdictions.
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In the 📑IP Management Letter series, IP experts find case-based narratives that show how strategic IP management works in real companies and industries, with practical insights they can directly apply to their own portfolios and client work.
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How Sumitomo Turned the Dunlop Brand into a Global IP Power Asset
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Sumitomo transformed the Dunlop brand from a historic tire name into a strategic IP asset by acquiring and consolidating trademark rights globally. Originally tied to performance and motorsport heritage, Dunlop’s trademarks now provide market access, consumer trust, and pricing power in mature markets. Sumitomo’s stepwise trademark acquisition illustrates how technology brands can unlock competitive advantages beyond patents alone.
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