Day 2 (Jan 27th 2026)

Pre-event Agenda Day 1 Agenda Day 2

8:00 am - 8:30 am Registration & Coffee

8:30 am - 8:40 am Chairperson’s Opening Address

8:40 am - 8:45 am Live Polls

8:45 am - 9:15 am USPTO Update: Live Discussion with a USPTO Representative

Both patent and brand protection leaders face mounting complexity, from accelerated threats caused by emerging technologies to rising global counterfeiting and shifting enforcement standards. The need for clarity, transparency, and direct engagement with the USPTO has never been greater.

• Hear up-to-date insight into working effectively with the USPTO

• Gain clarity on complex emerging issues impacting portfolio management and enforcement.

• Ask a question to a senior UPSTO representative on the future of in-house IP in the US, including practical advice on how to align your IP strategy with the USPTO to remain close strategic partners.

9:15 am - 9:45 am Presentation: Lessons from Athleisure: Winning Strategies to Combat Dupes and Protect Your Brand

Counterfeit and ‘dupe’ products have become a defining challenge for US athleisure brands. In contrast to automotive and pharmaceutical counterfeits, drawing law enforcement attention due to strong health and safety risks, dupe apparel rarely triggers agency action—leaving brand owners to develop innovative enforcement and protection strategies.

Learn innovative methods from IP leaders across industries to effectively prevent brand infringements.
Share creative legal approaches to strengthen infringement claims and overcome apathy from enforcement partners.
Discuss how to leverage civil litigation, customs interventions and contract controls to disrupt dupe supply chains.

9:50 am - 10:20 am Think Tank: Prosecution Masterclass: Navigating Complex Subject Matter Eligibility in the US

Explore advanced strategies for overcoming Section 102/112 patent rejections with expert prosecution counsel and USPTO examiners.

Gain clarity on recent trends in approval rates for each industry and USPTO guidance for patent filings, including how to distinguish eligible claims from ineligible subject matter.
Dissect real cases, identify common pitfalls and share practical drafting advice to increase allowance rates for your IP applications.

10:25 am - 10:55 am Think Tank: Unmasking Digital Threats: Best Practices Against AI-Enabled Brand Risks

As the fight against brand abuse shifts ever deeper into the digital domain, strategies to pre-empt and counteract emerging threats such as mass infringement by bots, deepfake attacks, domain hijacks, and phishing campaigns, are imperative to protect your brand.

Understand the new, more sophisticated, threats you will face in protecting your digital assets including loopholes used to evade detection and enforcement.
Learn how to turn the tables against new threats by deploying AI-based tools for global brand monitoring, deepfake detection and real-time evidence collection.
Develop an understanding of what investments and strategic partnerships are necessary now to stay ahead of would-be digital adversaries in an AI-powered world.

11:00 am - 11:30 am Think Tank: Is it Fair? Inside the US FRAND Debate

FRAND commitments are a cornerstone of licensing SEPs, but the US landscape is marked by legal uncertainty, global divergence, and increased litigation risk. Ongoing judicial inconsistency in determining FRAND terms creates unpredictability for both licensors and licensees.

Discuss FRAND’s most pressing obstacles in 2026, hearing peer-sourced insights for navigating policy, regulatory and business minefields.
Explore what is meant by “Fair & Reasonable” in the US context in royalty calculation methods, evidence weighting and treatment of global portfolios.

9:50 am - 10:20 am 1-to-1 Business Meetings

10:25 am - 10:55 am 1-to-1 Business Meetings

11:00 am - 11:30 am 1-to-1 Business Meetings

11:35 am - 12:05 pm Presentation: Crossing the Line: Maximising Brand Protection Through Smarter Collaboration with Customs & Border Control

Counterfeiters are becoming increasingly sophisticated, and supply chains ever more complex, making customs intelligence and collaboration an essential tool for brand protection leaders. Effective customs engagement programs can provide access to timely shipment data and convert seizures into strategic insights that strengthens overall brand protection efforts. By leveraging customs data, frontline insights and strategic partnerships with customs authorities, brands can proactively intercept counterfeit goods before they enter the market.

Discover how real-time intelligence sharing, tailored training, and digital authentication tools are transforming customs from a reactive enforcement body into a strategic ally for brand owners.
Learn best practices for establishing effective customs engagement programs, accessing timely shipment data, and translating customs seizures into actionable, commercially focused wins.
Explore innovative ways to deploy digital authentication tools, such as QR codes, serialisation and labelling and integrate them into customs workflows for streamlined verification at the border.

12:05 pm - 12:35 pm Presentation: Navigating the Evolving Discretionary Denial Standard: What’s Next for IPR Filings Under the Trump Administration?

The landscape for IPR discretionary denial is in flux, following significant policy reversals and new memoranda reshaping how the USPTO and PTAB exercise their institution discretion. With guidance shifting under the Trump Administration and USPTO leadership, patent stakeholders are closely monitoring these developments, eager for clarity on how future decisions may unfold and how to recalibrate post-grant strategies.

Hear a dissection of the latest “workload management” and “settled expectations” standards in the Stewart memo for a clearer understanding of IPR.
Assess the rescission of the Vidal memo and anticipate the Trump Administration’s path forward on PTAB discretion.
Share insights as to what extent the US Administration’s uncertainty has peaked or are we closer to a new equilibrium for IPR access and predictability?

12:40 pm - 1:10 pm Lightning Debates

Take part in quick, interactive lightning debates designed exclusively for IP leaders across both patent and brand protection functions. This session transforms networking into an engaging forum in an informal setting, quickly diving into some of the most pressing IP debates shaping your industries in 2026.

Debate topics include:

Should AI inventions be eligible for patent protection?
Brands, not marketplaces, should bear the primary responsibility for detecting and removing counterfeit goods online.
Quality of patents filed is always more effective than quantity.
Blockchain technologies are the future of counterfeit enforcement.

1:10 pm - 2:10 pm Lunch

2:10 pm - 2:40 pm Think Tank: Measuring What Matters: Shifting IP Metrics from Outputs to Business Outcomes

IP leadership is undergoing a significant transformation evolving from a tactical, cost-focused operation to an integrated, strategic function fundamental to organisational reputation, growth and innovation. However, many organisations still measure IP value with transactional outputs (eg. patents filed or granted, numbers of counterfeit seizures). This approach often fails to capture the broader, long-term business value IP brings.

Explore how to best define, quantify and communicate the impact of IP on strategic business outcomes to effectively communicate value of IP to the wider business.
Hear how both patent and brand protection leaders are motivating their teams to focus on the long-term impacts of protecting IP assets.
Share and develop custom KPIs to capture both operational outputs and long-term strategic impact within your organisation.

2:10 pm - 2:40 pm 1-to-1 Business Meetings

2:45 pm - 3:15 pm Panel Discussion: Mastering IP in 2026: Strategic Moves for Seizing Untapped Opportunities and Mitigating Surprises

In an era where the only constant is change, 2026 promises to bring a new era of rules, risks and opportunities, many of which remain hidden from plain sight today. With perspectives and forecasts shared from across IP functions and industries, equip yourself with a deeper understanding of the strategies to adopt and focuses to pursue in 2026 to effectively tackle likely policy shifts, global risks, and commercial opportunities to seize early-on.

Understand the new rules shaping 2026, be it market changes, regulatory shifts or technological developments posing new risks.
Discover unconventional growth areas and collaborative ecosystems that competitors might overlook to reinforce your competitive edge in your industry.
Develop frameworks to anticipate and respond effectively to black swan events and emerging threat vectors for your IP assets and brand to remain credible and secure.