PATLIB Conference 2026

Speaker: Ewa Skrzydło-Tefelska
Ewa is President of the Polish Patent Office. A former attorney-at-law and university lecturer, she specialises in intellectual property, European Union and advertising law. She combines legal and academic expertise with institutional leadership to strengthen intellectual property protection and support the development of the innovation ecosystem.

Speaker: Bowman Heiden
Bowman is the co-director of the Center for Intellectual Property (CIP) in Gothenburg, Sweden. He is also the executive director of the Tusher Strategic Initiative for Technology Leadership at UC-Berkeley and a fellow at the NYU School of Law.

Speaker: Thomas Bereuter
Thomas is a certified licensing professional (CLP) with over 25 years of experience in the international commercialisation of early-stage technologies. He has founded and supported several high-tech startups and university spin-offs and was one of the driving forces behind the business incubation and technology transfer wave in Austria in the early 2000s.

Speaker: Adéla Dvořáková
Adéla is a tech-to-market adviser at EIC Transition, working with researchers and innovators to help turn scientific breakthroughs into market-ready products and businesses. Before joining EISMEA, she held various roles at the Research Executive Agency (REA), the EUIPO and the EPO, gaining expertise in intellectual property and EU-funded R&D projects.

Moderator: Rainer Kaysan
Rainer leads the PATLIB department at the EPO, supporting Europe’s network of over 300 centres to empower businesses, universities and research institutions to maximise intellectual property value through technology transfer, licensing and commercialisation. He also brings experience as a patent examiner, chairman of opposition and innovation manager in aerospace and defence.

Speaker: Onur Emül
Onur is a deputy manager at the Intellectual Property Institute Luxembourg (IPIL), within the Department of International Cooperation. His work ranges from IP and innovation management to EU project and stakeholder management. He is also a member of two EPO working groups on IP assessment and technology transfer.

Speaker: Andrzej Żurawowicz
Andrzej is an innovation and intellectual property strategist with 30 years of experience in IT technology and business consulting. He helps organisations to make better innovation decisions, unlock the business value of intellectual property and increase the economic and societal impact of research and innovation through patent intelligence and AI.

Speaker: Ilze Grava
Ilze is director of the International Cooperation Department at the Latvian Patent Office. She leads strategic development, communication, awareness-raising and international co-operation on IP matters. She is a member of the EPO PATLIB Advisory Committee. Before entering the IP field, she gained experience in Latvia’s justice and foreign affairs sectors.

Moderator: Thomas Withnell
Tom brings experience in technology transfer and SME-related matters. Prior to joining the EPO, he led a university technology transfer team and has experience in project management. His background is in electrical power engineering and superconductivity and he has achieved RTTP (Registered Technology Transfer Professional) status.

Speaker: Agnieszka Podrazik
Agnieszka is the deputy director of the AGH University Main Library in Krakow and has been the coordinator of its PATLIB Centre for over 20 years. A recognised IP and patent information specialist, she specialises in IP databases and integrating patent literacy with advanced AI solutions.

Speaker: Pedro Almeida
Pedro is the head of the tech transfer office at NOVA FCT. An environmental engineer by training, he focuses on bridging the gap between scientific research and industry by promoting innovation and entrepreneurship.

Moderator: Lisa McDonald-Maier
Lisa joined the EPO in 1992, being involved in training, the PATLIB network, and Espacenet. From 2013-2023, Lisa managed a unit dealing with user support for patent information services. She led the training of the PATLIB 2.0 project and took over leadership of the Knowledge Transfer to Africa initiative in 2022.

Speaker: Izlem Şahinkaya
Izlem is manager of industry collaboration and commercialisation at Bahçeşehir University, a Turkish patent and trademark attorney and a registered technology transfer professional. She helps to transform research into societal and economic impact through intellectual property, technology transfer, licensing and university-industry collaboration.

Speaker: Didier Moné
Didier is a senior legal counsel at the knowledge transfer office of the University of Mons, Belgium. A certified IP expert and writer, he also acts as a legal advisor for the PATLIB Hainaut center, assisting researchers and businesses with intellectual property issues.

Speaker: Alex Riechel
Alex is head of the TISC Development Section at the World Intellectual Property Organization. In this capacity, his responsibilities include leading the implementation of programme activities to establish technology and innovation support centers (TISCs) worldwide, helping innovators to unlock their innovative potential and create, protect and manage their IP rights.

Speaker: Eunice Adu Boahen
Eunice is head of the Intellectual Property and Technology Transfer Unit at Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology, Ghana. She specialises in intellectual property management, knowledge transfer, research commercialisation and innovation ecosystems, supporting universities, researchers and entrepreneurs to translate their research into socio-economic impact.

Speaker: Sandra Ennas
Sandra trained as an electrical engineer. She is head of the IP Unit at Sardegna Ricerche (PATLIB Centre) and a mentor for the EPO's Knowledge Transfer to Africa initiative.