Wednesday, November 4, 2026
8:30 AM-9:00 AM
Registration and networking
9:00 AM-9:10 AM
Welcome address: Senior representative, IAM
9:10 AM-9:40 AM
Keynote interview: Insights from the busiest court at the UPC
Tobias Pichlmaier
Legally Qualified Judge, Munich Local Division, Unified Patent Court
Agathe Michel-de Cazotte
Partner, Carpmaels & Ransford
9:40 AM-10:30 AM
Masterclass: Injunction spotlight: emerging practice and pitfalls
- Preparing your injunction case at the UPC
- Testing the limits of long-arm jurisdiction
- What the case law tells us so far
Clemens Heusch
Head of Global Litigation and Disputes, Nokia
Murielle Khairallah
IP Vice President, Valeo
Johannes Druschel
Partner, Finnegan
Gisbert Hohagen
Partner, Taylor Wessing
Kai Härmand
Legally Qualified Judge, Regional Division, Stockholm, Unified Patent Court
10:30 AM-11:00 AM
Networking break
11:00 AM-11:50 AM
Panel: How the UPC impacts patent value
- Damages in focus: what the first decisions reveal
- The court’s role in patent licensing campaigns
- Leveraging litigation funding at the UPC
Sara Burghart
Head of Patents, Litigation and Offensive Strategy, BAT
Rebecca Brown
Director, IP, EMEA, Sonos
Oskar Block
Chief Executive Officer and Co-founder, Stilta
Benno Buehler
Vice President, Charles River Associates
11:50 AM-12:40 PM
Masterclass: UPC harmonisation: Court of Appeal rulings in focus
- EPO alignment? Inventive step, plausibility and claim interpretation
- The most significant questions that need to be answered
- Appeals to watch out for
Nicole Williams
Senior Director, IP and Litigation, 10x Genomics
Giovanni Trabucco
Senior IP Counsel, Meril
Frédéric Chevallier
Partner, McDermott, Will & Emery
Peter Fitzpatrick
Partner, Powell Gilbert
12:40 PM-2:00 PM
Lunch and networking
2:00 PM-2:50 PM
Lightning talks: The UPC toolkit in practice
A series of 15-minute presentations led by subject matter experts.
Patent opt-out patterns revealed
Presented by:
Protective letters: tactics and takeaways
Presented by:
Mastering the front-loaded system
Presented by: Mathias Karlhuber, Partner, Patent Attorney, Cohauz & Florack
Mathias Karlhuber
Partner, Cohausz and Florack
2:50 PM-3:40 PM
Focus session: Pharma patent strategy at the UPC
- Why pharma companies should embrace the UPC
- Navigating opt outs, SPCs and unitary patents to maximise protection
- Building preliminary injunction strategies
James Horgan
Chief IP Counsel International Litigation and Policy, Merck Sharp & Dohme
Jiri Slavik
Vice President, IP, Adalvo
Shohta Ueno
Executive Director, Regeneron Pharmaceuticals Inc
Elisabeth Greiner
Partner, df-mp
Charlie French
Partner, Bristows
Rute Lopes
Presiding Judge, Lisbon Local Division, Unified Patent Court
3:40 PM-4:10 PM
Networking break
4:10 PM-5:00 PM
Panel: The UPC’s role in the wider SEP landscape
- Key lessons from evolving case law and decisions
- Using the UPC alongside other European courts
- The UK-UPC jurisdictional battles redefining SEP disputes
Farnaz Massoumian
Lead Patent Attorney, Vodafone
Alex Orsi
VIce President Legal, Associate General Counsel IP, HP
Alex Morgan
Partner, Paul Hastings
Eelco Bergsma
Assertion Director, Ericsson
Jan Phillip Rektorschek
Partner, PENTARC
5:00 PM-5:50 PM
Panel: The EPO and the UPC: balance, alignment and the way forward
- Harmonisation and divergence – the verdict so far
- Deploying parallel proceedings as a strategic tool
- Oppositions and revocations: building a winning validity strategy
Anna Bacchin
Legal Member, Boards of Appeal, European Patent Office
András Kupecz
Presiding Judge, Munich Central Division, Unified Patent Court
Bernhard Thum
Managing Partner, Thum & Partner
Rachel Fetches
Partner and Head of Law, HGF
Rosalind Holmes
Patent Attorney, Boehringer Ingelheim
5:50 PM-6:00 PM
Closing remarks: Senior representative, IAM
6:00 PM-7:00 PM
Drinks reception
