21TH ANNUAL CONFERENCE
OF THE EPIP ASSOCIATION

Intellectual property and innovation policy
in the new global economy

TURIN, ITALY
SEPTEMBER 9-11, 2026

The 21st annual conference of the EPIP Association was hosted by Politecnico di Torino, in cooperation with the Bordeaux School of Economics, in Turin on September 9–11, 2026. The lead theme of the conference was “Intellectual Property and Innovation Policy in the New Global Economy”. The conference brought together scholars in the fields of economics, law, management and political science, as well as stakeholders and policymakers, for theoretical, empirical and policy-oriented presentations and discussions on intellectual property protection, science and innovation.

• Leading themes and topics

  • Healthcare & IP and innovation policies

  • IP & governance

  • Innovation, technology transfer & IP

  • IP & sustainable innovation

  • IP & (in)equality, diversity, and inclusivity

  • IP & creative industries

  • IP & data quality

• KEYNOTE SPEAKERS

  • Margaret Kyle, Chair in Intellectual Property and Markets for Technology at the École Nationale Supérieure des Mines de Paris (FR)

  • Mark Lemley, Professor of Law at Stanford Law School, Stanford (US)

  • Klaus Grabinski, President of the Court of Appeal and Chairperson of the Presidium of the Unified Patent Court, Luxembourg (LU)
  
  

• ROUNDTABLES

  #1 - IP and Pharmaceutical Innovation (Supported by Studio Torta)
  Chair: Fabio Montobbio, Professor of Applied Economics at the Department of Economic Policy at the Catholic University of the Sacred Heart, Milan (IT) // Justyna Ożegalska-Trybalska, Professor of Intellectual Property Law at the Jagiellonian University, Kraków (PL)

  • Lidia Casciano – Italian and European Patent Attorney and Partner at Studio Torta Turin (IT)

  • Margaret Kyle – Chair in Intellectual Property and Markets for Technology at the École Nationale Supérieure des Mines de Paris, Paris (FR)

  • Sergio Napolitano – General Counsel and Executive Director for Legal and International Affairs at Medicines for Europe, Bruxelles (BE)

  • Żaneta Zemła-Pacud – Deputy President of the Patent Office of Poland and Associate Professor at the Institute of Law Studies, Polish Academy of Sciences, Warsaw (PL)

  
  #2 - Innovation and IP management
  Chair: Irene Calboli – Regents Professor of Law at Texas A&M University, Fort Worth (US)

  • Alessandro Cogo – Professor of IP Law at the Università degli Studi di Torino, Turin (IT)

  • Giovanni Casucci – Partner at Grimaldi Alliance, Turin (IT)

  • Simona Lavagnini – Lawyer and founding partner of LGV Avvocati, Milan (IT)

  • Manda Tay Min Dai – Director of Strategic Planning and Policy at the Intellectual Property Office of Singapore, Singapore (SG)

  #3 - SEP and FRAND developments
  Chair: Rafał Sikorski – Professor of Law at the Adam Mickiewicz University, Poznań (PL)

  • Rudi Bekkers – Full Professor at Eindhoven University of Technology, Eindhoven (NL)

  • Enrico Bonadio – Professor of Law City St. George’s University of London, London (UK)

  • Francesca Ferrari – Professor of Civil Procedure Law at the University of Insubria, Varese (IT)

  • Christian Helmers – Professor and Chair of the Department of Economics at Santa Clara University, Santa Clara (US)

  • Wolrad Prinz – Seasoned patent litigator at Freshfields, London (UK)

  
  #4 - Perspectives on the UPC: judges, practitioners and scholars
  Chair: Esther van Zimmeren – Professor in Intellectual Property Law and Governance at the University of Antwerp, Antwerp (BE)

  • Klaus Grabinski – President of the Court of Appeal and Chairperson of the Presidium of the Unified Patent Court, Luxembourg (LU)

  • Kai Härmand – Head of the Civil Department of Harju County Court, Unified Patent Court, Tallin (EE)

  • Véronique Pede – UPC Representative, attorney-at-law, and founding partner of Gevers, Bruxelles (BE)

  • Alessandro Sanchini – Technically Qualified Judge of the Unified Patent Court, Head of the Electromechanical Division at the IP firm Modiano and Partners, Milan (IT)

• PARALLEL ROUNDTABLES

  #1 [supported by AIDB] - Democracy of access to Intellectual Property information in the global society
  Chair: Nigel Clarke – Visiting Fellow at Cambridge University (UK)

  • Nathalie Montillot – Program Officer at the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO), Geneva (CH)

  • Roberta Romano-Götsch – Spokesperson and Chief Sustainability Officer at the European Patent Office, Munich (DE)

  • Carla Scorsini – Qualified Patent Information Professional, Associazione Italiana Documentalisti Brevettuali, Milan (IT)

  • Frank Tietze – Professor of Innovation Engineering at the University of Cambridge (UK)

  
  #2 - Patent remedies in the US and Europe: a comparison of the eBay test and the IPRED proportionality requirement
  Chair: Laura Sheridan – Head of Patent Policy at Google, Mountain View (US)

  • Stefania Fusco – Assistant Professor of Legal Studies at the Spears School of Business at Oklahoma State University, Stillwater (US)

  • Mark Lemley – Professor of Law at the Stanford University (US)

  • Rafał Sikorski – professor of law at the Adam Mickiewicz University in Poznań (PL)

  • Martin Stierle – Full Professor of Intellectual Property Law at the University of Luxembourg (LU)

    
    

• EVENTS

  • AIDB Event – IP Data Search and Analysis for Economics and Legal matters
  Chair: Guido Moradei (AIDB)
  
  • WIPO GREM – Bridging Research and Policy on Women’s Participation in Innovation, Creativity and IP
  Chair: Giulio Raffo (WIPO)
  
  • ANR event – Training Inventors? STEM Graduates and Inventive Activities
  Chair: Catalina Martinez (CSIC-IPP)

• CHAIRED BY

  • Valerio STERZI, BxSE, University of Bordeaux, France
  • Federico CAVIGGIOLI, Politecnico di Torino, Italy
  
  

• OTHER MEMBERS

  • Grazia ASCIONE, Politecnico di Torino, Italy
  • Maurizio BORGHI, Università degli Studi di Torino, Italy
  • Luigi BUZZACCHI, Politecnico di Torino, Italy
  • Irene CALBOLI, Texas A&M University, United States
  • Alessandra COLOMBELLI, Politecnico di Torino, Italy
  • Antonio DE MARCO, Politecnico di Torino, Italy
  • Catalina MARTINEZ, Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas, Spain
  • Francesco Luigi MILONE, Politecnico di Torino, Italy
  • Gianluca ORSATTI, Università degli Studi di Torino, Italy
  • Justyna OZEGALSKA-TRYBALSKA, Jagiellonian University, Poland
  • Chiara RAVETTI, Politecnico di Torino, Italy
  • Giuseppe SCELLATO, Politecnico di Torino, Italy
  • Elisa UGHETTO, Politecnico di Torino, Italy
  
  

• ADVISORS

  • Caterina SGANGA, Scuola Superiore Sant’Anna Pisa, Italy
  • Domenico GOLZIO, Associazione Italiana Documentalisti Brevettuali, Italy

SPONSORS