Advisory Board

Felipe Aguilera-Børresen is responsible for the development of the international trade service portfolio at Innovation Norway, the main instrument for trade promotion and funding of Norwegian enterprise and industry. He also provides advice on intellectual property👉 Creations of the mind protected by legal rights. management and business-driven IP strategies, with more than 20 years of experience advising companies in different industries.

Mr. Aguilera-Børresen has been appointed as Expert Advisor to the European Commission on the enforcement of intellectual property rights for SME’s, and he has previously served as board member of the Licensing👉 Permission to use a right or asset granted by its owner. Executives Society (LES Scandinavia). He is currently a member of the Advisory Board at the Center for Intellectual Property at the University of Gothenburg (CIP).

His academic background is in industrial mathematics from the University of Oslo in Norway and Universidad Javeriana in Colombia. He holds an IPBA on intellectual property management from CEIPI, University of Strasbourg. In addition to executive education programs on innovation management and IP strategy👉 Approach to manage, protect, and leverage IP assets. from MIT, HBS, NTNU/CIP and IMD.

With 15 years of experience in innovation, I have spent the past five years focusing on intellectual property, intrapreneurship, and technology transfer👉 The transfer of intangible goods to make scientific findings economically usable. in the healthcare sector. I have worked in law firms, the medical device industry, and multinational companies specializing in technology intelligence. My work involves the strategic management👉 Strategic management is the process of planning, implementing, and evaluating. of intellectual property and technology transfer. I now lead a technology transfer office👉 A unit facilitating commercialization of research inventions from lab to market., overseeing the development, protection, and commercialization of innovative assets.
I hold a postgraduate degree in Innovation Management (UFSCar) and in Intellectual Property Law (PUC-Rio). I am currently a Master’s student at FEA-USP, where my research focuses on Innovation, Technology Management, and Entrepreneurship. I also lecture in academic programs and mentor startups within the health innovation ecosystem👉 Network fostering innovation by collaboration and resource sharing.. My professional motto: From lab to life.

Since 2012, Dr. Paolo Beconcini is an Italian attorney and has headed the firm’s China Intellectual Property team spanning several offices, including Beijing, Shanghai, Hong Kong and Los Angeles. Paolo consults with companies seeking protection for their IP rights in China and legal action against infringers, advising on issues of law and enforcement, conducting evidence gathering and piloting their cases through the Chinese legal system.
A sought-after authority on IP protection and litigation in China, Paolo manages the trademark👉 A distinctive sign identifying goods or services from a specific source., copyright👉 A legal protection for original works, granting creators exclusive rights. and design portfolios of European and US clients, conceives and implements IP litigation strategies, regularly appears in Chinese courts and attends IPR administrative and police raids on counterfeiters. His record of success in patent👉 A legal right granting exclusive control over an invention for a limited time. and trademark infringement👉 Unauthorized use or exploitation of IP rights. lawsuits includes landmark cases designated “case of the year” by several IP journals. He leads business intelligence teams that pursue evidence of counterfeiting operations, particularly concerning automotive, fashion and consumer goods.
Paolo is frequently invited to speak at conferences devoted to the growing field of Chinese IP, and has been actively involved in field projects, including trademark and patent enforcement training programs for Chinese civil servants. Paolo is regularly interviewed on China IP matters by media around the world such as The Wall Street Journal, CNN, BBC, The Times, Bloomberg, La Tribune and Il Sole24 Ore, to name a few.
In China, where intellectual property disputes routinely involve multiple cultures, Paolo’s fluency in five languages, including Mandarin, helps him navigate international borders and creates confidence in his clients. Paolo represents US and European clients in confronting the myriad cross-­cultural challenges – legal, commercial and political – that threaten patent and trademark assets.

Dr Nigel Clarke started at the EPO in The Hague as patent examiner. He moved on to IT project management and procurement. In Vienna he was, for many years, the application manager for the suite of the EPO’s online public patent information products. He finished his career in Vienna as Head of Patent Analytics. He has travelled widely (including Europe, the Americas, Middle East, South East Asia and China) to promote the EPO’s patent information products and services. He has written, published and presented extensively on general and specific aspects of IP. He was the EPO liaison on the ISO technical committee for innovation management. He is a board member of World Patent Information. Nowadays he is an independent consultant and tutor to the EU IPHelpdesk, EPO, EUIPO, and WIPO. He is a Visiting Fellow at Cambridge University (UK) Prior to joining the EPO, Nigel was a UK government scientist with experience in nuclear science and technology. Nigel has a first class honours degree in physical chemistry and a PhD in neutron science from the University of Exeter (UK).

Coming soon

Coming soon

Giovanna Girardi is a lawyer specializing in business law and intellectual property. Clients hire her to build strategies to protect their designs, patents and trademarks and also profit from them. Giovanna also lectures at various business schools Geneva Business School, EAE, Garrigues and collaborates in global and European to raise awareness of intellectual property rights as a competitive tool for SMEs. In 2017, she participated in an ambitious project for the European Union Intellectual Property Office (EUIPO) to help harmonise practices within the network of European Union Intellectual Property Offices. Giovanna was born and raised in Brazil and holds Masters degrees from Pontificia Comillas University. You can follow her insights in intellectual property on LinkedIn and Instagram.

Dr. Gunther Herr is a graduate of the Coburg University of Applied Sciences and the University of Huddersfield, England. He earned his doctorate in the field of innovation theories as an employee at the innovation management of BMW, before he became partner of the WOIS Institute Coburg in 2000.

It is the core competency of the WOIS Institute to systematically work out the barriers with the highest potential and develop new perspectives and solutions to overcome them

Gunther Herr is responsible for the specialization of “Strategic Innovation” of the Executive MBA at the Steinbeis University Berlin. He also lectures at Coburg University and the University of Prague.

He is vice chairman of the advisory board of the Innovationszentrum Kronach and is scientific adviser of the Dieselmedaillen-Kuratorium, that publishes the “Innovation Management Support” magazine among others.

Dr. M. Polat Kalafatoglu is an assistant professor at Koç University Law School (Istanbul/Türkiye). Graduated from Galatasaray High School and Galatasaray University Law School, he continued his studies in Paris with a master’s and PhD degree. His PhD thesis entitled “Arbitrability in the field of Industrial Property, a study on international arbitration” received the honorary prize H. Capitant of Chancellerie des Universités de Paris and was published in 2018.
He also completed several internships in reputable law firms in Türkiye and France. Before joining Koç University in 2016, he was a legal case manager at the WIPO Arbitration and Mediation Center (Geneva/Switzerland) for the Internet domain name dispute resolution proceedings.
He was a visiting researcher at the Max Planck Institute for IP and Competition👉 Rivalry between entities striving for a shared goal or limited resource. Law in Munich, the Max Planck Institute for Comparative and Private International Law (PIL) in Hamburg, the Research Center for PIL and International Trade Law of Paris II Panthéon/Assas University, and the Swiss Institute of Comparative Law (ISDC) in Lausanne.
His research areas cover International Arbitration Law, PIL, IP Law, Internet Law, and Sports Law. He served as an arbitrator in arbitration proceedings under different institutional rules and is listed as a panelist for Internet domain name disputes at the WIPO Arbitration and Mediation Center and Istanbul Arbitration Centre (ISTAC)."

Professor Marcos Kauffman, PhD, is Director of the Research Centre for Manufacturing and Materials (CMM) and the Institute for Advanced Manufacturing and Engineering (AME) at Coventry University. With a background in law and innovation, he specialises in technology and innovation management, intellectual property strategy and digital manufacturing. He has led multi-disciplinary research projects integrating engineering, business and IP frameworks, focusing on how Industry 4.0👉 Usage of digital technologies to create smart, connected manufacturing systems. and related digital transformations shape business models and IP strategies. Alongside academic leadership, Professor Kauffman serves as an Intellectual Property Valuation Consultant for Barker Brettell LLP, providing guidance on maximizing IP value through strategic licensing and portfolio management👉 Strategic management of diverse assets to optimize returns and balance risk.. His research interests span technology roadmapping👉 A strategic tool visualizing plans and goals to align teams and stakeholders., IP asset valuation and the application of innovation intelligence tools. Combining a strong academic record with extensive industrial experience, he continues to foster new collaborative methods and best practices to drive sustainable, IP-focused innovation.

Looi Teck Kheong is the Principal Consultant for ASEAN and Malaysia at Public Policy Asia Advisors, specializing in IP, digital economy, and sustainability policies. Formerly, he was Head of Competition, Consumer Protection, and IP Division and Assistant Director of Market Integration at the ASEAN Economic Community, ASEAN HQ (2019–2022), driving ASEAN’s IP Action Plan. Admitted to the Rolls of Advocates & Solicitors of the Supreme Court of Singapore, he has 25 years private & in house legal roles (Deutsche Bank APAC Legal & Tax Counsel) and holds an LLM, MPP (NUS-Harv), and LLB (Hons) from the National University of Singapore. A Guest Lecturer at NUS School of Computing, he teaches Legal Aspects of Information Security including Cybersecurity, Cybercrime & IP law. Author of Internationally Acclaimed, "Cybersecurity – Guardians of the Digital Frontier" (Amazon, Sept 2024), Looi has led IP enforcement, trademark protection, and policy frameworks across Asia-Pacific. His global engagements with WIPO, USPTO, UKIPO, CNIPA, ASEAN IPOs, EUIPO, EPO, AIPA, INTA, KIPO, UNCTAD, and JPO shape innovation-friendly IP regimes. Fluent in English, Bahasa, and Mandarin, he advises on IP valuation & digital economy development, multilateral cooperation, trade secrets, and sustainable innovation.

Jieun Kim is Professor of Technology and Innovation Management at Hanyang University. She gained her M.S. and Ph.D. in Industrial Engineering from Arts et Métiers ParisTech (2008, 2011) and won the 2012 Leverhulme Fellowship in Innovation Engineering. From 2020 to 2021 she was Visiting Associate Professor at the University of British Columbia.
As director of the Legal Design Center, she leads an interdisciplinary team that links IP experts, legal services, internet platforms and government agencies to craft evidence-based IP strategy. She is lead author of Patent Analytics, a handbook that demystifies and jointly analyses utility patents, design rights and trademarks through network-science and data-visualisation tools.
Prof. Kim delivers WIPO–KIPO courses for developing-country patent examiners and lectures on design innovation at the Royal College of Art, École de Design Nantes, Hong Kong Polytechnic University, NUS, MIT Sloan’s ASB programme and the University of Nantes, France.

Artis Kromanis is an associate professor in Riga Technical University (Latvia) in fields of industrial engineering and intellectual property. His activities in the university are not limited only to the intellectual property. He also continues his scientific and academic activities in such fields as machining, CNC programming and LEAN manufacturing. Artis started his journey in the intellectual property as an assistant of the patent attorney in 2003 and then slowly but consistently obtained qualification of Latvian patent attorney and European patent attorney. In the middle of this journey, he also became a registered appraiser in the state company register of Latvia, as well as design agent before the Latvian patent office and the EUIPO. Obtaining dual experience as a patent attorney and a researcher working on innovative products and services allowed to gain extensive experience in the IP management as well as in the technology transfer, including licensing. This knowledge is used daily helping various spin-offs and start-ups to navigate through innovation mountains, woods and lakes bringing product/process to the market. Artis is also founder of the IP Law Firm “KROMANIS”, where he continues his private practise helping clients in all aspects of IP.

Dr. Pankaj Kumar is the DPIIT IPR Chair Professor at National Law University and Judicial Academy, Assam, with nearly two decades of experience in intellectual property rights. Beginning his IPR career with CSIR in 2006, he has filed over 500 IPR applications including patents, trademarks, and copyrights. He holds a Ph.D. in Biotechnology with specialization in patents, Master's degrees in Biotechnology and Law, an Associateship in Information Science (Patent Systems), and a Law degree from the University of Delhi. He is a certified IPR trainer, regularly conducting training and workshops nationwide, and is known for his academic, legal, and scientific integration in IP promotion and education.

Gabriel Marcuzzo Cavalheiro is an Adjunct Professor in the Department of Entrepreneurship and Management at Universidade Federal Fluminense (UFF). He holds a PhD in Business Administration from Fundação Getulio Vargas (FGV), Brazil, and earned both his BSc and MSc degrees in Production Engineering from Delft University of Technology (TU Delft), in the Netherlands. His research focuses on the strategic management of intellectual property, with particular emphasis on patents, patent analytics, and the development of patent indicators to support competitive intelligence and innovation strategies. He is especially interested in how patent information can be leveraged to inform decision-making processes in organizations, enhance technology management, and strengthen innovation capabilities. His academic work contributes to bridging the gap between intellectual property theory and practical application in business and public policy contexts.

Coming soon

I'am a dedicated professional with a robust academic background and extensive expertise in business and innovation management. I hold a Bachelor of Science in Industrial Management from NSBM Green University (2016) and a Master of Science in Management from the University of Sri Jayewardenepura (2023). Additionally, I have a Postgraduate Diploma in Marketing and am an Associate Chartered Professional Manager recognized by the Institute of Chartered Professional Managers of Sri Lanka. My areas of expertise encompass Business Management and Research, Marketing Management, Intellectual Property Strategy and Protection, Commercialization, Entrepreneurship and Innovations Management, Tech-Transfer, Tech-Licensing, and IP Portfolio Management. Currently, I serve as an Innovation Officer/Deputy Director at the National Innovation Agency, Sri Lanka. I also have a significant track record as a visiting lecturer at various state and private institutions. My professional goal is to further contribute to the national innovation ecosystem and the higher education sector, leveraging my comprehensive knowledge and experience in research, development, innovation, and entrepreneurship.

Argentine Lawyer and IP agent with more than 20 years of experience advising and designing legal/business strategies related to the creation, protection, use and enforcement of the whole range of IP rights locally, regionally (Latin America) and internationally.

He has academic and practical experience dealing with patents, trade secrets, plant variety rights, trademarks, designs, domain names, advertisement claims, copyright as well as anti-counterfeiting, licensing, transfer of technology and regulatory affairs matters related to pharmaceuticals, medical devices, food products and other legal areas related to innovation and migration of business to the digital world.

Currently he is the Head of the Legal Department at Moeller IP Advisors (www.moellerip.com) as well as adjunct professor at Universidad de San Andres (Argentina) where teaches the class Management of IP and Open Innovation👉 The use of external and internal ideas to drive innovation forward. offered within the Master on IP and Innovation organized by WIPO, INPI Argentina and San Andres University as well as legal aspects of digital business in the same University.

Coming soon

Senior Professor of the Universidad Católica de la Santísima Concepción (UCSC, Chile). He is Lawyer (Bachelor of Law, Universidad de Concepción) and Master in Business Administration (MBA), Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile, with specialization studies in intellectual property at Japan Patent Office (JPO); Korean Intellectual Property Office (KIPO); University of California (UC), Davis; Oxentia-ISIS Innovation at the University of Oxford; and World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO).
Since 2001, academic of the Law School of UCSC and former Vice-Chancellor of this university (2016–2021).
Author of more than 30 scientific papers about intellectual property rights published in Chile and other countries; and also, of 3 books on the subject.
Member of International Association for the Advancement of Teaching and Research in Intellectual Property (ATRIP) and board member of Licensing Executives Society Chile (LES Chile) and Technology Managers Network (Red GT), as well as part of the Civil Society Council of the National Institute of Industrial Property (INAPI) in Chile.

Professor Sajal Sharma is an Assistant Professor (Selection Grade) at the School of Law, UPES, Dehradun, India. He graduated from the Department of Law, University of North Bengal (NBU) and finished his LLM with specialization in Intellectual Property Laws from Department of Law, University of North Bengal (NBU). He has more than 10 years of teaching experience working in various law schools including IILS, Siliguri, School of Law, Christ Deemed to be University, School of Law, Alliance University, School of Law, Presidency University and currently he is associated with UPES, Dehradun. He is actively engaged in the teaching of Intellectual Property Laws were he takes a keen interest in matters related to the law of patents, ethical issues related to biological and genetic patents, emerging issues related to artificial intelligence and its patenting and copyright. He also takes keen interest in the intersection of Technology with Law and the various legal, ethical, and regulatory issues arising out of it. At the post graduate level he teaches Cyberspace and IPR issues which has become a area of major interest given the wide footprint of IPR in the cyberspace.
He is in the advanced stages of his PhD which deals with the protection of Intellectual Property Rights in outer space activities. He is also engaged in teaching Artificial Intelligence and machine learning law. In the last few years he has developed a keen interest in the field of AI law and has presented several papers in the area of artificial intelligence and the law. These include his paper at the International Symposium on Governing Artificial Intelligence: Designing Legal & Regulatory Responses held at the U-Residence, VUB Brussels on the 23rd of May 2023 organised by the Vrije Universiteit, Brussels in collaboration with the School of Law, Trinity College Dublin. He also presented a paper in the international conference titled Public Governance and Emerging Technologies – Values, Trust, and Compliance by Design held on the 11 & 12 Jan, 2024 in Utrecht, Netherlands. He recently presented his paper titled the quest for evolving regulatory agencies in an AI driven world: A public law analysis at the 10th ICON-S Annual Conference titled The Future of Public Law: Resilience, Sustainability & Artificial Intelligence held at the prestigious IE University in Madrid, Spain. He was also invited as an expert by the Institute for Ethics in Artificial Intelligence (IEAI) for the epoch-making workshop in Munich, Germany that drafted the Munich Convention on AI and Human Rights on the 16th of July 2024 in the premises of Technical University of Munich in Germany. He has also been an active participant in several National and International conferences related to IPR, Cyber Law, Technology law and others related to the technology domain.

Bente Sollid has over a decade of CEO experience and extensive board expertise across publicly listed companies and high-growth tech firms. A tech pioneer with a unicorn-level exit, she founded Digital Hverdag (later Cell Network, listed in 1999), now Bouvet ASA. Bente serves as Chair of Task Alliance, Sonat Topco, and UtilityCloud, and holds board positions in Europris, Polaris Media, Kredittbanken, Huddly, Motor Gruppen, Insenti, Lumi Group, among others. She has lectured at BI Norwegian Business School and in the Executive Board Program in collaboration with INSEAD. Bente has advised several Ministers of Trade and Industry, served on a government-appointed expert committee on NRK funding, and mentored tech founders and women board candidates. She received the Gulltaggen Honorary Award in 2023 and was a finalist for the Woman Board Award in 2018.

Coming Soon

Ioana Stefan is Associate Professor of Innovation Management at Mälardalen University and has a PhD in Industrial Economics and Management from KTH Royal Institute of Technology in Sweden. Her research spans innovation and intellectual property management, sustainability, circular economy, entrepreneurship, and ethics. She has published in outlets such as International Journal of Management Reviews, R&D Management, Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Journal of Business Research, Journal of Engineering and Technology Management, Resources, Conservation and Recycling, Licensing Executives Society International (LESI) Les Nouvelles. Ioana is also member of the Editorial Team of R&D Management journal.

Strong academic background for legal policy making in light of Law and Economics in Economics Law and IP Law, such as Academic Visitor Prof. in University of Oxford (2016-2020), Research LL.M degree in the University of Edinburgh, LL.M degree (GPA 4.00/Distinct) in Chuo Univeristy, LL.B and BA in Economics in Keio Univeristy.
High experienced in IP and Competition Law policy making activity in government’s legislative procedures committees (Committee in Ministry of Economics, Trade and Industry, Keidanren, Japan IP Association, Japan Electronics and Information Technology Association) and Japan IP law attorney practices.

Dr. Pratheeba Vimalnath is a lecturer in Innovation, Intellectual Property (IP), and Sustainability at the University of Exeter Business School, UK, where she also serves as Shadowing Director of Education for the Innovation, Technology & Entrepreneurship sub-group. Her research and teaching focus on strategic innovation and IP management, with specialisation in responsible IP strategies for collaborative innovation, sustainability, and the circular economy. As an External Expert IP Tutor for the European Patent Office’s Modular IP Education Framework programme, she contributes to interdisciplinary capacity building in IP literacy across Europe including UK. Before joining Exeter, she conducted IP focused research at leading UK universities, including the University of Cambridge and the University of Oxford. She holds a PhD in IP Management, a Master’s in Technology Management, and a Bachelor's in Computer Science and Engineering, all from India. She has published in international journals, received awards for research and teaching, delivered invited talks, and contributed to funded projects such as those by the Economic and Social Research Council, British Council, and European Commission. Prior to academia, she gained three years of industry experience working across multinational corporation and startup environments.

Prof. Kelvin Willoughby is Professor and Chairholder in the Stiftungsfonds Deutsche Bank Chair of Innovation Management and Entrepreneurship at the HHL Leipzig Graduate School of Management, in Leipzig, Germany. He is an expert in the strategic management of intellectual property, technology-based entrepreneurship, and strategic planning for technology-based industry development, and he has conducted a variety of studies, and produced numerous publications, in the above fields in North America, Europe, Asia, Australia and Russia. Willoughby has earned doctorates in both strategic management and technology studies, and a master of laws degree in intellectual property law.
In addition to his academic work Professor Willoughby is an international consultant and advisor to industry and government. Examples of his projects include: principle investigator in EU-funded innovation project on intellectual property and technology commercialization strategies for enhanced safety and environmental sustainability in the lithium-ion battery industry; strategic assessment of biomedical technology industry clusters in the United States; strategic management of intellectual property in the electronic, metals and automotive industries in Bavaria; the development of regional technology clusters in Germany; training for technology transfer for the US federal laboratories; the management of technology incubators; and innovation in the delivery of higher education (in Europe and the United States). He has extensive experience as a teacher and director of executive education programs in several countries, has been Director of the Global Entrepreneurship Monitor for Thailand, and has been elected Vice President for Technology Entrepreneurship of the U.S. Association for Small Business and Entrepreneurship. Willoughby’s practical business experience also includes being a founding member of an entrepreneurial digital media technology company in the United States.
Professor Willoughby’s formal academic affiliations have included: Skolkovo Institute of Science and Technology, Moscow, Russia (Professor)); Curtin University (Professor and MBA Director); University of Minnesota (Professor and Endowed Chair in Management of Technology); Technische Universität München, Visiting Professor in the Lehrstuhl für Wirtschaftsrecht und Geistiges Eigentum. He has also worked in a variety of academic and administrative roles at: Max-Planck-Institut für Geistiges Eigentum, Wettbewerbs- und Steuerrecht, the University of Minnesota, the State University of New York at Stony Brook, the University of Tokyo (RCAST), the University of Utah, the Hong Kong Polytechnic University, Westminster University, the University of Western Australia, the University of California at Berkeley, Mahidol University, and Columbia University in New York. He was a founding participant in Future 500 China and was also the Founding President of the Appropriate Technology Development Group, Inc., a not-for-profit organization involved in sustainable development and social entrepreneurship.

Ron is currently a Visiting Fellow at the City University of Hong Kong and teaches university postgraduate Regulation Technology and Intellectual Property Law classes.
A mechanical engineer by training, he holds multiple post graduate law degrees, was a computer forensics examiner and is a co-inventor on patents in EdTech and Tokenization of IP.
He has been an advisor to the WIPO Green initiative of the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) and a co-founder of Makebell Ltd, an AI startup whose platform, Makebell Studio allows users to build AI agents

Enes Talha Çetinkaya is a Turkish attorney specializing in intellectual property law, with a focus on trademark prosecution and maintenance since 2020. In his current role at an international IP firm, he advises and represents both domestic and foreign clients across various legal matters.