Sara Vinarov

Global Senior Intellectual Property Counsel Ingredion Incorporated

Sara is an enterprise intellectual property leader and IAM 300 strategist with more than 25 years of experience spanning multinational companies, law firms, universities, research institutions and startups. She brings a unique combination of scientific expertise and commercial acumen to the development, commercialisation and protection of complex, high-value IP. In her previous role as the first Global Legal Head of IP & Innovation at a UK-headquartered multinational, Sara transformed IP from a back-office legal function into a strategic, board-level driver of growth. She built partnerships, fostered an innovation-focused culture, embedded IP throughout the product lifecycle, and generated millions in value through portfolio optimisation, dispute resolution and international licensing. Sara holds a PhD in Biochemistry and is a USPTO-registered attorney, with law licences in New Jersey, Texas, Illinois and Wisconsin. Having advised more than 10,000 scientists, engineers and stakeholders globally, she specialises in translating complex innovations into valuable IP assets. Her expertise spans IP strategy, global patent disputes, IP-driven M&A due diligence, regulatory disclosures and multi-party licensing, combining collaboration, cross-cultural fluency and commercial judgment to deliver measurable business value. Her areas of expertise include global IP portfolio strategy, Freedom to Operate (FTO), competitive surveillance, commercial and research agreements, licensing, patent disputes, M&A and divestiture due diligence, and training on data privacy, information governance, compliance and loss prevention. Sara is also an experienced international speaker, having presented at IP law conferences on strategies to boost, protect and monetise innovation. She has authored articles covering topics including proteomics, antitrust, CRISPR and trade secrets. Her publications have received more than 80 citations on Google Scholar, including citations from former NIH Director Francis S. Collins, M.D., Ph.D., which contributed to an invitation to speak at the U.S. National Academy of Sciences in Washington, D.C., in 2004.