In many organisations, “IP strategy” still gets treated as a specialist topic: something that happens late in the process, sits inside the legal function, and mainly exists to defend inventions after the fact. But in today’s high-growth technology landscape, that mindset leaves value on the table. The European Patent Office’s upcoming IP Strategy Bootcamp (BW07-2026) is built around a more modern reality: successful innovation depends on collaboration between general management, R&D, and legal teams — and that collaboration only works when IP is understood as a strategic, human, and communicative discipline, not just a technical one.

Organised by the European Patent Academy in co-operation with I3PM (International Institute for IP Management) and CEIPI IP Business Academy, the bootcamp runs online across three live sessions (6 February, 17 February, and 10 March 2026, 14:00–17:00 CET), for a total of 9 hours, delivered in English, and offered free of charge (with a participant cap of 120).

What makes this bootcamp different: hard skills meet the psychology of decision-making

The EPO positions the bootcamp explicitly at the intersection of the analytical and the human side of IP management. Participants work with frameworks and tools, but they also address what typically blocks good IP decisions in real life: competing incentives, cross-functional misunderstandings, executive attention scarcity, and the behavioural dynamics around risk, ownership, and persuasion.

This dual focus shows up clearly in the structure:

  • Session 1 (6 Feb 2026): “What is IP Strategy?” and “The Psychology of IP Strategy” with Dr. Benjamin Delsol covering the fundamentals (hard skills) and Maria Boicova-Wynants addressing the human side of IP decision-making (soft skills).
  • Session 2 (17 Feb 2026): Coaching and soft skills for IP strategy, including a practical segment on how to pitch an IP strategy to the C-suite (Delsol + Maier Fenster), plus coaching-based debriefs.
  • Session 3 (10 Mar 2026): Group presentations and expert feedback — bringing leadership, communication and real-world constraints together in a “strategy-in-practice” setting.

In other words: this is not designed as passive learning. It is designed as practice for the conversations that actually decide whether IP becomes a budgeted, supported, and executed strategy.

The “two assessments” that matter — and the EPO certificate

A detail that is easy to underestimate (but highly relevant for participants and employers alike): the bootcamp includes two mandatory assignments — an individual assignment and a group assignment — and successful completion is explicitly tied to certification by the EPO. The EPO’s course page states that participants receive a certificate upon successful completion, based on full attendance and submission of both assignments.

That matters for two reasons. First, it signals that this is a competence-building format, not simply a webinar. Second, it gives participants a concrete, externally recognised outcome they can use internally (for career development, credibility in cross-functional projects, or as evidence of training in strategic IP management).

What you will actually work on: monopoly theory, budgeting, and executive persuasion

The bootcamp is structured around applied work, not abstract theory.

In the individual assignment (due 16 February 2026), participants analyse IP strategy case studies of selected companies: identify key IP assets, connect them to business objectives using monopoly theory, and critically discuss benefits and limitations.

The group assignment (due 7 March 2026) simulates a leadership situation many IP teams recognise instantly: using the “Cosmed” case study, participants act as SVPs of IP pitching a new IP strategy to their CEO — specifically to secure an additional €2M budget.

That design choice is powerful. It forces the shift from “IP correctness” to “IP relevance”: the strategy must be explainable, defensible, and fundable. And it trains a core professional skill that is still rare in the IP ecosystem — turning technical/legal insight into executive decision language.

Spotlight on Dr. Benjamin Delsol: IP strategy fundamentals, grounded in deep tech reality

Dr. Benjamin Delsol brings an unusual and very relevant combination to this bootcamp: deep technical credibility plus explicit IP strategy leadership.

On the IPBA® Connect profile page, he is described as an outsourced IP manager and strategist with hands-on expertise in quantum technologies, deep tech, artificial intelligence, software inventions, IP law and business strategy, combining a PhD in Quantum Physics with an LL.M. in IP Law and Management. This blend matters because IP strategy often fails when it becomes detached from technology development reality — either overly legalistic or overly visionary. His positioning is clearly aimed at bridging that gap.

HAUTIER IP highlights his specialisation in computer-implemented inventions, software inventions, and cutting-edge fields ranging from AI to quantum technologies, and notes his role as Chairman of the Intellectual Property Strategy Committee at I3PM.

For participants, this background is valuable because “IP strategy fundamentals” can otherwise drift into generic frameworks. The bootcamp’s first session is built to make those fundamentals concrete — connecting strategic tools to the way real companies prioritise, protect, and commercialise technical advantage.

For those who want to know more about IP strategy right now, you can find an IP strategy deep dive on the digital IP Lexicon 🧭dIPlex.

Spotlight on Maria Boicova-Wynants: the psychology, negotiation, and real-world dynamics of IP strategy

If IP strategy were only about the right frameworks, organisations would implement it easily. In practice, it succeeds or fails through people: trust, alignment, persuasion, conflict management, and the ability to communicate across cultures and functions.

That is exactly the domain Maria Boicova-Wynants represents in this bootcamp: she leads the “psychology of IP strategy” component in Session 1 and the coaching/soft-skills elements that continue through the programme.

Her professional profile describes her as an experienced IP lawyer and IP strategy consultant running her own consultancy practice, with two decades of international experience, and credentials spanning Latvian patent and trademark attorney, European trademark and design attorney, and European mediator in cross-border civil and commercial disputes. Importantly, it also links her to the broader European IP management education ecosystem: she holds an MBA from Vlerick Business School and an LL.M. (MIPLM) from CEIPI/University of Strasbourg.

Her mediation and dispute-resolution orientation is not a side note—it is a strategic advantage for an IP strategy bootcamp. The Court of Arbitration for Art’s mediator profile, for example, emphasises her experience in mediation since 2012 and her work across domestic and cross-border IP and art law disputes. This type of background translates directly into better strategic behaviour: diagnosing conflict earlier, designing negotiation pathways, and avoiding “strategy by escalation”.

From an IP Business Academy perspective, Maria’s thinking also connects strongly to the reality of professional visibility and how expertise becomes usable. In an IPBA interview, she stresses the importance of consistent online presence, authentic communication, and understanding the rules of virtual interaction — an angle that mirrors the bootcamp’s emphasis on communication and stakeholder alignment as core IP skills. Here you can find the review of her book “Psychology of IP“.

Who should pay attention to this bootcamp

The target audience listed by the EPO is broad—business and IP managers, patent attorneys and paralegals, EQE candidates, industry researchers, universities and technology transfer centres, and more. The common denominator is not job title; it is responsibility in innovation decisions.

If you are involved in deciding:

(a) what gets protected,

(b) what gets published,

(c) what gets licensed,

(d) what gets enforced, or

(e) what gets funded

you are already part of IP strategy. This bootcamp is a compact way to become more deliberate in that role, with an applied format and an outcome that is recognised through an EPO certificate. You can register for this IP Strategy Bootcamp 2026 here:

👉 https://www.epo.org/en/learning/events/bw07-2026

Practical note: commitment is part of the design

The bootcamp explicitly requires full commitment to all three live sessions and completion of both assignments. That requirement is not administrative—it is pedagogical. IP strategy is a practice. And practice needs continuity: you learn the most when you build from frameworks (Session 1), to coached application (Session 2), to defended execution under feedback (Session 3).

For those who can commit to that arc, the bootcamp is a rare format: free, structured, coached, and strongly anchored in both strategic substance and human capability. Registration details and deadlines (4 February 2026) are provided on the EPO course page.