The celebration was held in the WIPO headquarters building in Geneva, at September 21, 2017. Distinguished speakers gave insights in current developments of trademark management, free & open source software (“FOSS”) challenges and education/career networks in IP Management.The International Institute for IP Management (I3PM) is the leading association of IP managers with more than a hundred members from 22 countries around the globe. Started as an alumni organization from MIPLM, it is today an important driving force for improvement of IP management and creating career opportunities in leading IPM companies.

Chantal Koller from Novagraaf Switzerland gave an overview of current challenges in trademark management as a service provider. Chantal has 20 years of experience in IP with 15 years in IP firms and 5 years as an in-house counsel for sports and beverages companies. She is managing director of trademark department at Novagraaf in Switzerland and is also responsible for business development in Japan. In her presentation, she gave an overview of the strategic framework in trademark IP management, different legal aspects, up to date management methodology an insights in some traps including tips for improvement.

Professional Background of Chantal Koller

Presentation of Chantal Koller on “Best practices in IP Management Trademarks”

Philippe Therias is attorney at law Paris bar. In his 30+ year experience, he has worked for different outstanding companies like IBM and Airbus (Chief IP, Toulouse, France) and Alcatel-Lucent. He has professional practice in three jurisdictions (France, USA, Canada) and comprehensive experience in strategic corporate IP policy development. In his presentation he showed the rising complexity of challenges around free & open source software (FOSS) in company management processes. He explained the practice in the software world of copying and using already existing software modules. He explained possible risks of using FOSS and showed how companies can handle management processes within big, midsized and small corporations.

Professional Background of Philippe Therias

Presentation of Philippe Therias on “Sample Free & Open Source Software (“FOSS”) company management processes”

Dr. Alexander Wurzer is professor for IP management at CEIPI and head of studies for the master program on intellectual property law an management (MIPLM) since 2006. He gave an overview of the ongoing digital transformation and the inevitable consequences for knowledge driven companies and IP professionals. He explained the ecosystem which has been developed over the last ten years on IP management education and career advancements in this field, including the MIPLM case study series, the CEIPI executive IP management days, the graduate school at D.I.E. and the improvements of the MIPLM course. Latest developments are the EPO academic research program cooperation on IP management and a dedicated PhD-program on IP management at CEIPI.

Professional Background of Prof. Dr. Alexander Wurzer:

Dr. Wurzer is Adjunct Professor for IP Management at the Center for International Intellectual Property Studies (Centre d’Etudes Internationales de la Propriété Industrielle, CEIPI) at the University of Strasbourg, where he has been Director of Studies for the Master’s degree in Intellectual Property Law and Management (MIPLM) since 2007. Prof. Dr. Wurzer is Director of the Steinbeis Transfer Institute for Intellectual Property Management at Steinbeis University Berlin. He is Managing Partner at WURZER & KOLLEGEN GmbH, a consulting firm specializing in strategic IP management. Prof. Dr. Wurzer is Chairman of DIN committees DIN 77006 for quality in IP management and DIN 77100 for patent valuation. He is a member of the Board of Directors of “Deutsches Institut für Erfindungswesen e.V.” (D.I.E.), Spokesman of the Board of Trustees awarding the Diesel Medal, and Fellow at the Alta Scuola Politecnica at Milan/Turin Polytechnic.

Presentation of Prof. Dr. Alexander Wurzer on “IP Management Education”