Dr. Karin Nordström Dyvelkov is Vice President of GEA Group AG. Her main responsibility is Intellectual Property globally. Karin heads a global team of IP managers and experts. The team services and advises the entire GEA organization on all matters related to Intellectual Property including enforcement of existing rights, competitor surveillance, registration of rights, IP negotiation in development contracts and training of staff. The team also advises and works with the best options on how to secure GEAs Freedom-to-Operate in any type of project ranging from front-end R&D to sales release. One of the big tasks has been to transform GEAs decentralized IP setup into a centralized modern global organization. Before entering the exciting world of IP, Karin had an academic career within physics, and nano- and microtechnology. After spending many years, including a PhD in microoptics and surface science and a postdoctorial position within nanomanupulation of nanotubes, she decided to move into the more applied physics and ended up in the industry. She spent some years coordinating and executing large European FP7 research projects in the industry. In this work the topic of IP seemed to be almost more difficult than doing the actual research and administration!