|
|
🎯 IP Management Pulse #54
|
Your inbox-insider from Prof. Wurzer every two weeks
|
|
|
|
|
|
Here are the hot topics from 29. January 2026 - 11. February 2026
|
|
|
|
NEWS
|
IP portfolio monetisation for mobile payments | Patenting the digital transformation of retail | Licensing as the bridge between biotech innovation and market access | Teaching young people IP awareness
|
|
|
|
RESOURCES
|
The Live Webinar "The Positioning Shift: From Expert to Choice" | How to use the IPBA Connect Platform as an IP expert
|
|
|
|
DEEP DIVES
|
Narrative blocks: how IP experts turn positioning into communicable authority | Why Psychology and Strategy Together Determine the Success or Failure of Corporate IP | IP Design as a Leadership Tool
|
|
|
|
IP MANAGEMENT LEARNINGS
|
Novartis and PTC Therapeutics: A Licensing Deal for Huntington’s Disease Drug Development
|
|
|
|
|
|
🤗 🍵 I wish you an exciting and informative read. I look forward to your comments and our exchange on LinkedIn.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
IP portfolio monetisation for mobile payments
Paymetrex’s newly announced licensing programme for its mobile payments IP portfolio is a timely reminder of how IP monetisation is evolving from an opportunistic activity into a structured business model. Across the fintech and mobile payments ecosystem, companies are increasingly treating their patent portfolios as revenue-generating assets rather than purely defensive tools. As digital payments infrastructure evolves and markets become more crowded, licensing programmes, cross-licensing frameworks, and IP portfolio valuation are becoming central levers for extracting value from past R&D investments and strengthening negotiating positions in competitive ecosystems.
|
What IP experts can learn from it
|
For IP experts, the key takeaway is that IP portfolio monetisation is becoming a core component of corporate IP strategy. Advising clients now requires helping them identify monetisable assets, segment portfolios by licensing potential, and design proactive licensing programmes rather than waiting for infringement disputes to emerge. IP experts who can translate portfolios into revenue opportunities will play an increasingly strategic role in business development and value creation.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Background information on the IPBA Connect platform
|
|
|
|
How Stripe Built a Formidable IP Strategy in FinTech on the 📑IP Management Letters
|
|
|
|
|
|
Patenting the digital transformation of retail
Alpha Modus’ patent activity in the field of data-driven stationary retail highlights a broader trend: the digital transformation of physical retail is rapidly becoming an IP race. As retailers integrate computer vision, sensor technology, and AI-powered analytics into brick-and-mortar environments, the boundary between software, hardware, and data-driven services is dissolving. Companies are increasingly seeking patent protection for the technologies that enable automated checkout, in-store analytics, and personalised shopping experiences, turning innovation in retail operations into protectable and licensable assets.
|
What IP experts can learn from it
|
For IP experts, the key takeaway is that digital transformation is expanding patentable subject matter into industries that historically relied less on patents. Advising retail and consumer-facing companies now requires understanding how software, AI, and data-driven processes can be protected and strategically used. IP strategy is becoming a critical enabler of competitive advantage in the future of retail.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Background information on the IPBA Connect platform
|
|
|
|
Checkout-Free and Data-Driven: The Impact of IoT on Amazon Go Stores on the 📑IP Management Letters
|
|
|
|
|
|
Licensing as the bridge between biotech innovation and market access
SanegeneBio's global licensing agreement with Genentech illustrates a broader industry reality: licensing has become the primary pathway for translating biotech breakthroughs into widely applied therapies. Smaller research-driven biotech companies are increasingly focused on early drug discovery and proof of concept, while large pharmaceutical partners provide the capital, regulatory expertise, manufacturing capacity, and global distribution needed for commercialisation. As R&D costs rise and development risks remain high, strategic licensing deals are becoming a central mechanism for moving innovations from the lab to the market.
|
What IP experts can learn from it
|
For IP experts, the key takeaway is that licensing strategies are now a critical component of biotech innovation management. Advising clients requires structuring IP portfolios to attract partners, enable scalable licensing agreements, and support long-term collaboration models. IP professionals who understand how patents underpin partnership negotiations and technology transfer will play a key role in enabling successful biotech commercialisation.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Background information on the IPBA Connect platform
|
|
|
|
IP Protection in the Life Sciences on the digital IP lexicon 🧭dIPlex
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Teaching young people IP awareness
The UK Intellectual Property Office’s guide “Protecting Your Creativity: A Guide for Students” reflects a growing global effort to raise awareness of intellectual property at an early age. As creativity, digital content creation, and entrepreneurship increasingly start in school environments, governments and institutions are recognising that young people need basic literacy in copyright, trademarks, patents, and design rights long before they join the workforce. Teaching IP fundamentals early helps students understand ownership, respect others’ creations, and recognise the commercial potential of their own ideas in a digital economy where copying and sharing are effortless.
|
What IP experts can learn from it
|
For IP experts, the key takeaway is that IP awareness is becoming a long-term educational priority and part of innovation policy. This creates opportunities to contribute to outreach, education, and awareness initiatives, and to position IP as an accessible and relevant topic for future innovators. Experts who engage in education and advocacy can help shape how the next generation understands creativity, innovation, and the value of intellectual property.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Resources on the IPBA Connect platform
|
|
|
|
Awareness Building for IP on the 📑IP Management Letters
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
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.
|
|
|
|
IP experts discuss the White Paper on "Freedom to Operate in the Life Sciences"
|
|
|
"The white paper clearly shows that freedom to operate is a strategic decision, not just a last-minute legal check. It explains complex patent risks in a way that is directly relevant to R&D and management decisions, not limited to just the life sciences field. This white paper applies to a wide range of areas."
|
|
Julien is a Senior European Patent Attorney at Umicore, an innovative Belgian manufacturer of specialty materials and recycling technologies.
|
|
|
|
|
The Live Webinar "The Positioning Shift: From Expert to Choice"
|
|
|
|
This free live session, part of the Independent by Design seminar series, shows how IP experts can position their expertise in a way that makes them a deliberate choice not just a capable option.
|
|
|
|
|
|
BEST PRACTISE: How to use the IPBA Connect Platform as an IP expert
|
|
|
“With IPBA’s multi-channel approach, I can position as a key enabler for SEMs – and start meaningful conversations with industry leaders. It keeps me engaged with the international IP community.”
|
|
Bas Albers gathered more than 10 years of IP management experience by handling IP matters for companies. After that he began at Patent Cockpit offering IP management services to SMEs, who have no need for a specialized full-time IP manager, but want to get a grip on their IP.
|
|
|
|
|
Bas Albers demonstrates how an IP Subject Matter Expert can use IPBA Connect not just for reputation, but for business generation. His journey illustrates that the combination of a clear personal brand, tightly managed digital visibility, structured marketing, and systematic business development leads to real conversion. For SMEs, he delivers clarity and actionable strategy in a field often clouded by complexity. For himself, he has built a pipeline that transforms thought leadership into measurable growth. And for the IP community, he shows how service providers — not just law firms — can become recognized authorities by sharing what they know, proving what they can do, and steadily converting that into sustainable business.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Visible Council - the IP Expert Branding Column
|
|
|
|
|
Narrative blocks: how IP experts turn positioning into communicable authority
|
|
By columnist Giulia Donato, Brand & Communication Consultant at people and brand strategies
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
The article explains how “narrative blocks” help IP experts turn their positioning into communicable authority. Many professionals struggle with visibility because traditional branding feels misaligned with the cautious, evidence-driven nature of IP work. Narrative blocks offer a structured way to codify how experts think, make decisions, and handle uncertainty, rather than simplifying or exaggerating their expertise. These reusable communication modules create strategic clarity and can be applied across meetings, profiles, and proposals. By making implicit expertise explicit without oversimplifying it, narrative blocks help IP professionals become more recognisable, trusted, and actively sought after.
|
|
|
|
|
|
My Favorites from the 📝IP Business Academy Blog
|
|
|
|
|
Why Psychology and Strategy Together Determine the Success or Failure of Corporate IP
|
|
|
|
|
|
The article argues that successful corporate IP depends on combining psychological insight with robust strategy. IP often remains siloed because legal advice is not framed in business terms that resonate with decision-makers. To influence leadership, IP professionals must translate IP into impacts such as time-to-market, revenue protection, negotiation power, and freedom to operate. At the same time, companies need a clear IP strategy aligned with business goals to avoid risks like lost business opportunities, weak competitive positions, and inefficient R&D.
|
|
|
|
|
|
My Favorite from the 🎧Podcast IP Management Voice
|
|
|
|
|
#76 IP Design as a Leadership Tool
|
|
|
|
|
|
The podcast episode explains that innovation leadership increasingly depends on how organisations design and manage intellectual property. IP design is presented as more than legal protection; it is a strategic leadership framework that connects innovation activities with long-term business objectives. The episode discusses how leaders can embed IP thinking into innovation processes, including trend analysis, freedom-to-operate considerations, and customer-focused product development. By integrating IP early, companies can anticipate IP risks, position products more effectively, and navigate uncertainty. Overall, the episode highlights how IP design helps organisations foster innovation and build sustainable competitive advantage in the digital economy.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
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.
|
|
|
|
|
Novartis and PTC Therapeutics: A Licensing Deal for Huntington’s Disease Drug Development
|
|
|
|
This case study examines a major licensing agreement between Novartis and PTC Therapeutics for a Huntington’s disease drug candidate. The deal shows how biotech partnerships combine the agility and scientific focus of smaller research companies with the global development, manufacturing, and commercialisation capabilities of large pharmaceutical firms. Valued at up to $2.9 billion, the agreement distributes development responsibilities, aligns incentives through milestone payments and profit sharing, and illustrates how licensing structures help manage risk while accelerating the path from clinical development to worldwide market access.
|
|
|
|
|
|
