Sisvel Connect 2026

Giovanni Ballocca is Chief Technology Officer at Sisvel. He has been involved in R&D activities in the field of video compression and distribution and multimedia technologies and is the recipient of several SEPs in the field of video coding. He has been an active contributor to the works of several standardisation bodies (ISO MPEG, DVB, SMPTE, HDForum Italia).

Lyse Brillouet was appointed Director of Research at Orange in January 2025, while continuing in her roles as CIPO and Senior Vice-President of Licensing, which she has held since 2018.

Ms Brillouet has had multiple positions within the Orange Group, all focused on business and innovation, and has led a number of critical, large-scale, disruptive projects. As a former Research Domain Director, she draws on a strong managerial background and applies this to transformation projects, both human and business oriented, with a constant focus on creating tangible value for the company. She also co-founded Orange’s Health Division.

Ms Brillouet has regularly taught at prestigious French business and engineering schools.

As Head of AI Pools at Sisvel, Willy Chang leads the formation of AI pools, with a particular focus on the hardware and infrastructure space. He has significant semiconductor industry experience, having previously worked at TSMC and Qualcomm. This gives him the ability to predict the way in which IP is implemented and used in this burgeoning industry. Mr Chang is known for his work on developing licensing programmes in the DRAM space, well before the current memory supercycle, and is now working on several new and exciting initiatives relating to AI infrastructure that he believes will fairly compensate licensors while providing the freedom to operate that is critical in this revolutionary space.

HwiJae (Jay) Cho has served as Executive Vice President and Head of the IP Centre at LG Electronics (LGE) since 2020. With over 30 years of experience in IP, he is recognised for his expertise in IP strategy, portfolio management, licensing, transactions and litigation across global markets.

At LGE, Mr Cho has strengthened a world-class global IP portfolio, including SEPs and non-SEPs. Under his leadership, LGE has significantly enhanced the value of its IP portfolio and concluded numerous patent cross-licence agreements with leading global companies. His strategic vision has reinforced LGE’s IP competitiveness and supported the development of a sustainable innovation ecosystem.

Prior to his current role, Mr Cho held a variety of positions within the LG Group, managing IP portfolios and licensing activities across the semiconductor, telecommunications and consumer electronics industries.

With more than 40 years of experience, Roberto Dini is one of the global IP market’s best-known figures. Long before it became conventional wisdom, he foresaw that patents would transcend their role as legal rights and emerge as strategic business assets critical to corporate competitiveness, the valorisation of research and the global dissemination of innovation. His work has had a profound influence on global IP business strategies for more than 40 years and continues to do so to this day.

Having begun his career as head of the patent and trademark department at Italian consumer goods manufacturer Indesit, Mr Dini founded Sisvel in 1982. Under his leadership, the firm became a world leader in managing and maximising the value of patent rights – particularly through the creation and management of patent pools and other aggregation vehicles.

In 1987, Mr Dini founded IP consultancy Metroconsult as a vehicle through which to offer his experience and knowledge of the industry to the benefit of a third-party client base. With offices in Turin, Milan, Genoa and Modena, the firm now offers high-quality, tailored services to a large number of IP-owning entities.

In recognition of his vision and pioneering contribution to the evolution of IP, Mr Dini was inducted into the IP Hall of Fame in 2026.

Lisa Dong is Assistant General Counsel at Microsoft, where she leads patent conflicts and licensing across the company’s global businesses. She advises on patent strategy, complex transactions and IP risk management, and manages a team handling high-stakes licensing negotiations and pre-litigation matters. Ms Dong is also co-founder of the ADAPT initiative to advance diversity in the IP profession and is an active mentor. She began her career at Paul Hastings and Hogan Lovells, focusing on IP litigation.

Jako Eleveld has been on the executive team of Philips Intellectual Property & Standards since 2009. He leads a successful global licensing group covering IP creation, standardisation, new programme development, licensing programmes and software licensing.

Mr Eleveld has more than 20 years’ experience in IP business. In previous positions, he was responsible for the IP portfolio and transactional matters of Philips Semiconductors (now NXP), Philips Innovation and Emerging Businesses and Philips Consumer Lifestyle. His experience covers the spectrum of IP, including portfolio management, standardisation, acquisition, licensing, litigation, M&A and other transactions. He is also a board member of various IP companies, including MPEG LA, Access Advance, One-Blue and Open Invention Network.

Mr Eleveld holds an MSc in applied physics from the University of Twente and is a European and Dutch patent attorney. In 2018, 2019 and 2020, IAM listed him in the Top 40 Global IP Market Makers.

Mattia Fogliacco is President of Sisvel International SA, the parent company of the Sisvel Group. He has led the group since 2017 and before that was part of its executive management team as Chief New Business Officer. Under his leadership, Sisvel has become a point of reference for licensing SEPs in consumer electronics for Wi-Fi, mobile communication and digital video broadcasting technologies.

Before joining Sisvel, Mr Fogliacco was Managing Director of Innovation SA, a company focused on licensing and IP transactions. He also served as Senior International Manager at IP Bewertungs AG, a service provider of Deutsche Bank, managing three IP and innovation investment funds.

Mr Fogliacco holds an MSc from Bocconi University and a CEMS master’s in international management. He is an inventor with several patent applications under his name and has published multiple articles on innovation and licensing.

Sharaz Gill is Head of Portfolio Management at Sisvel, where he is responsible for patent portfolio strategy, evaluation, development and enforcement preparation across technologies including 5G, Wi-Fi and video coding. A qualified European patent attorney, he has extensive experience in IP management, patent licensing, litigation and data-driven portfolio analysis.

Before joining Sisvel, Mr Gill co-founded and led IP Mind, which developed and provided AI-based patent analysis. This gave him direct experience of applying AI to patent evaluation and portfolio decision-making. He writes and speaks regularly on AI in IP, including at WIPO in 2025. His recent articles for Sisvel Insights have examined AI-generated evidence in patent disputes, AI as an inventive assistant and related questions of inventorship, obviousness and evidential transparency.

Eeva Hakoranta has a unique track record in creating value from monetising IP. In 2025, she was inducted into the IP Hall of Fame by IAM magazine in recognition for her transformative work in the IP industry as the recipient of the Q Todd Dickinson Award. She has been characterised as “one of the patent dealmaking world’s absolute superstars”.

Ms Hakoranta has more than 30 years of experience in the legal and licensing industry, building and leading world-class teams and creating global business and enforcement strategies. She has been influential in developing the licensing teams and growing the licensing revenues of Nokia and InterDigital. Previously, she was in private practice at Roschier Attorneys Ltd in Helsinki, Finland. Her experience includes M&A transactions, contracts, litigation and arbitration and IP, among other things. Ms Hakoranta holds an LLM from the University of Helsinki.

Scott Hayden received his BS in electrical engineering and technology from Purdue University, his MBA from Illinois University and his JD from St Louis University. After 13 years with Emerson Electric in the engineering and corporate legal departments, he joined Armstrong Teasdale in St Louis, Missouri as an IP attorney. In 1999, Mr Hayden became the Division IP Counsel for General Electric in Melbourne, Florida. Following several years as General Counsel of a GE business, Mr Hayden returned to IP as the founding leader of GE’s global patent operations in Fairfield, Connecticut. In 2006, he joined Amazon.com as Vice President of the IP Group, with responsibility for all patent, trademark, copyright, trade secret and domain issues. He has managed the growth of the IP team from four people to over 80 and is responsible for a patent portfolio of 18,000-plus patent families.

Bowman Heiden is the Executive Director at the Tusher Strategic Initiative for Technology Leadership at UC-Berkeley, the Co-Director of the Center for Intellectual Property at the University of Gothenburg and a Fellow of the Classical Liberal Institute at New York University School of Law. Dr Heiden is the Co-founder of the Berkeley Deep Tech Innovation Lab, the Dynamic Competition Initiative, the Eira Initiative and the Berkeley Gateway Accelerator. Over the past 20 years, Dr Heiden has also managed more than 150 innovation projects with industry, university research institutes, healthcare providers and start-up ventures. Dr Heiden holds degrees in engineering, technology management and economics. Before turning his focus to the fields of innovation strategy and policy, Dr Heiden played professional basketball in a number of European countries. This is why he is so tall.

Mathias Hellman is the Vice President of IPR Strategy and Value at Ericsson, where he leads a dynamic team across four units to drive long-term, sustainable value from the company’s global patent portfolio. Since joining Ericsson in 2011, he has held key leadership roles advancing IP strategy execution and transaction models. As part of these responsibilities, he has successfully led multiple strategic patent divestments and acquisitions designed to optimise portfolio strength and effectively capture the commercial value of Ericsson’s assets. Mr Hellman led strategic development and execution that directly supported Ericsson achieving record-breaking annual IP licensing revenues of SEK 14.5 billion in 2025. He has an interdisciplinary background in IP management and software engineering from Chalmers University of Technology.

Clemens-August Heusch is Vice President and Head of Global Litigation and Disputes at Nokia, responsible for litigation, arbitration and mediation globally, with a strong focus on multinational IP litigation and arbitration. Since 2008, Nokia has been involved in more than 200 patent cases worldwide.

Before joining Nokia in 2008, Mr Heusch was an attorney at law at international law firm Bird & Bird LLP. He studied law at the Universities of Freiburg and Bonn, Germany, and received an LLM from the University of Maastricht, Netherlands, and a doctorate from the University of Cologne, Germany. During his traineeship, he worked in the competition law team of Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer in Cologne and Brussels, Belgium.

Mr Heusch is a registered lawyer at the Cologne Bar and is a certified IP lawyer. Fluent in German, English and French, he regularly presents and writes on a range of legal topics. He is based in Germany.

Heath Hoglund is Chief IP Officer at Sisvel, with full responsibility for all of Sisvel’s patent pool business.

Mr Hoglund has built a reputation for collaborating across the global ecosystem to advance technology standards and adoption. He was formerly President of Via Licensing Alliance, a controlled subsidiary of Dolby Laboratories. During this time, he oversaw the acquisition and integration of MPEG LA and led the successful development of a number of patent pools that balanced the needs of manufacturers and innovators.

Previously, he was Vice President of IP and Standards at Dolby. In this role, he was responsible for the development of Dolby’s patent portfolio, oversaw its patent licensing programmes and spearheaded several collaborative patent pools and standards activities.

Before joining Dolby, he founded Hoglund & Pamias, a full-service IP law firm in Puerto Rico, and served as an adjunct Professor of Patent Law at the University of Puerto Rico School of Law.

Steve Jedlinski is Chief Legal Officer of the Sisvel Group. In this global role, he oversees all legal affairs for the organisation, providing strategic guidance on matters ranging from licensing and litigation to pool formation and policy. He also serves as President of Sisvel US, where he leads the group’s operations and growth initiatives in North America.

With nearly two decades of private practice experience, Mr Jedlinski brings a unique blend of courtroom acumen and transactional insight to Sisvel. Prior to joining Sisvel in 2024, he was an equity partner in the IP group at Holland & Knight LLP. His work in the SEP arena dates back to representing an implementer in the landmark Innovatio IP case and he has remained deeply involved in SEP matters ever since.

Mr Jedlinski holds a JD from Chicago-Kent College of Law and a BS in biomedical engineering from Northwestern University. He is also a registered US patent attorney.

David J Kappos is Co-chair of the IP practice. He is widely recognised as one of the world’s foremost leaders in the field of IP, including IP management and strategy, the development of global IP norms, laws and practices and the commercialisation and enforcement of innovation-based assets.

Mr Kappos advises Cravath’s clients on a range of complex IP issues, including those pertaining to AI, blockchain, crypto assets and fintech, as well as cybersecurity and data privacy.

From August 2009 to January 2013, Mr Kappos served as Undersecretary of Commerce and Director of the USPTO. Prior to leading the USPTO, Mr Kappos served as litigation counsel, Asia-Pacific IP counsel and, from 2003 to 2009, Vice-President and Chief IP Lawyer for IBM.

Jin Sam Kwak is the CEO of Wilus, an independent R&D company dedicated to developing innovative technologies, advancing international standards, building high-quality SEP portfolios and commercialising them through global SEP licensing. Since founding Wilus in 2012, he has led the company in building a sustainable innovation ecosystem that bridges advanced R&D, standardisation, SEP development and global licensing.

Dr Kwak actively contributes to IEEE 802.11 (Wi-Fi), 3GPP (LTE, 5G NR and 6G) and MPEG (MPEG-H 3D Audio, VVC, and ECM). Under his leadership, Wilus has built global patent portfolios comprising several thousand patent assets, with numerous inventions incorporated into international standards. He continues to lead Wilus' research and standardisation efforts in next-generation technologies, with a current focus on Wi-Fi 8, 6G and ECM.

Previously, Dr Kwak served as Chief Research Engineer at LG Electronics, where he led standardisation activities across IEEE 802, 3GPP, the Wi-Fi Alliance and the WiMAX Forum. He holds BS, MS and PhD degrees in electrical engineering and computer science from Seoul National University, Korea.

Carmen Lembo is a Senior Manager for Government Affairs at Qualcomm, based in Brussels. She works on EU policy files at the intersection of digital regulation, competition and IP. She also serves as Chair of the Intellectual Property Committee at AmCham EU, leading discussions and advocacy on IP policy issues affecting transatlantic business.

Before joining Qualcomm, Ms Lembo worked in the European Commission’s Directorate General for Competition, where she was part of the Digital Markets Act enforcement team. She previously served as a Policy Adviser in the European Parliament, supporting the Parliament’s work on internal market, competition and digital policy.

Ms Lembo is a qualified lawyer with a background in EU competition law. Prior to her role in the Parliament, she trained in private practice. She holds an LLM from the College of Europe and master’s degrees in law from the University of Milan.

Jack McKinney is a Director of IP at HP. With over 25 years of experience spanning patent prosecution, IP licensing and litigation, Mr McKinney is a thought leader and trusted business and legal adviser on HP’s technology ventures. Following a decade in private practice, Mr McKinney joined HP’s patent development team to drive patent portfolio strategy for several HP businesses. Currently, he leads a team of IP professionals supporting HP’s Personal Systems & Solutions businesses. The team manages and advises on a wide variety of IP matters across a variety of technologies. Mr McKinney’s practice extends across patent portfolio management, development agreements with industry partners, M&A due diligence, litigation support and inbound licensing for technologies integrated into HP’s products and services. Of recent note, Mr McKinney has successfully managed HP’s negotiations for several inbound SEP licences.

Adam Mossoff is Professor of Law at the Antonin Scalia Law School at George Mason University in the United States and a Senior Adviser at the USPTO. He is widely published on the law, history and policy justifications of patent licensing. His research has been relied on by justices on the US Supreme Court and the US Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit, and by US agencies such as the Federal Trade Commission and the USPTO. Professor Mossoff has been invited to testify seven times before Congress on proposed patent legislation. He is a member of the Intellectual Property Rights Policy Advisory Group of ANSI, and he has served as Chair and Vice-Chair of the Intellectual Property Committee of the IEEE-USA.

Alain Mourad is a senior R&D leader with more than 25 years of experience translating advanced research into globally influential wireless technologies, standards and IP. He currently heads Wireless Lab Europe at InterDigital, where he leads advanced wireless research and innovation, global standardisation engagement and technology adoption activities. His career spans InterDigital, Samsung Electronics and Mitsubishi Electric, with contributions across fundamental inventions, strategic IP rights positioning, standards leadership and international R&D collaboration with industry, academia, SMEs and public sector stakeholders. His standards experience includes ETSI, 3GPP, DVB, ATSC, IETF and WiMAX.

Dr Mourad is an elected member of the ETSI Board for the 2023–2026 mandate, is chair of the ETSI ISAC Industry Specification Group for a second term and serves on the WWRF Steering Board. He holds engineering and doctoral degrees in telecommunications from the University of Rennes 1 and IMT Atlantique, France, and a postgraduate certificate in international IP practice from Bournemouth University, UK.

David Muus is Head of Licensing Programmes at Sisvel, where he leads a team responsible for the company’s patent pools in mobile communications, Internet of Things, Wi Fi, audio and video coding technologies and digital broadcasting. Working closely with programme managers and patent holders, Mr Muus helps to ensure that Sisvel’s licensing programmes remain aligned with market needs, supporting the widespread adoption of innovative technologies while delivering fair returns to innovators for their R&D investments.

Prior to this role, Mr Muus served as Interim Head of Legal at Sisvel and was responsible for the company’s 3G and 4G licensing and litigation activities. Before joining Sisvel in 2015, David worked as IP Counsel at Dutch telecommunications operator KPN.

Shayne O’Reilly leads a team at Meta with global responsibility for IP licensing and transactions, open source, AI, M&A and high-risk initiatives. He previously served as Associate General Counsel for IP Litigation at the company, managing domestic and international IP litigation matters.

Previously, Mr O’Reilly worked for Kilpatrick, Townsend & Stockton LLP, where his practice focused on patent litigation, client counselling, technology transactions, due diligence investigations and post-grant review work.

Mr O’Reilly serves on the Executive Advisory Board of North Carolina A&T State University and the board of the Ron Clark Academy and the Silicon Valley Urban Debate League. He has received the Rising Star In-House Counsel of the Year award from the African American Managing Partner & General Counsel Network and the Silicon Valley Business Journal 40 under 40 award. He holds a BS in electrical engineering from North Carolina A&T State University and a JD from University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill School of Law.

Peter-Anthony Pappas serves as a Commissioner of the United States International Trade Commission. Previously, he served as Director of Intellectual Property Policy for the US Senate Committee on the Judiciary under Senator Thom Tillis, advising, among other things, on IP, antitrust, technology and cybersecurity policy. Commissioner Pappas served as lead staff on major bipartisan IP legislation and was formerly a Professional Staff Member Detailee for the US Senate Committee on the Judiciary.

Prior to his US Senate service, Commissioner Pappas had a number of roles at the US Patent and Trademark Office, where he began as a patent examiner and rose to become Special Advisor Detailee to the Under Secretary of Commerce for IP and Director of the USPTO, advising on IP, artificial intelligence and agency operations.

Commissioner Pappas has spoken globally regarding US IP policy and law, and has guest lectured at many major US law schools.

Matteo Sabattini is Executive Head of Government Affairs, guiding Sisvel’s policy and advocacy efforts.

Before taking on his current role, Dr Sabattini served as president and chief licensing officer of Convida, a joint venture between InterDigital and Sony Corporation of America. Prior to that, he was Ericsson’s director of IP policy. He was also formerly CTO of the Sisvel Group and president and CEO of Sisvel Technology.

Dr Sabattini is a recognised thought leader in the IP space, with years of expertise in technology licensing and IP strategy. He has published extensively and regularly speaks at industry events on IP matters. He holds an MBA from the George Washington University, a PhD in electrical engineering from the University of California, San Diego, and a Laurea Magistrale magna cum laude in electrical engineering from the University of Bologna.

Jacob Schindler is Senior Content and Communications Manager at Sisvel. He previously spent eight years as a journalist for IAM, leading the publication’s coverage of the IP licensing market in Asia. He is based in Hong Kong.

Charles Varvaro is the Managing Director for IP and worldwide head of IBM’s Patent Portfolio. His tenure at IBM has been defined by his commitment to clients and delivering results while holding to the highest ethical standards. He is known for building deep, strategic relationships with the Fortune 500 and knocking down roadblocks to success with energy, integrity and humour. He is currently the worldwide leader for IP, technology alliances and patent licensing, accountable for patent litigation and leading the litigation strategy against infringers of the IBM patent portfolio. He and his team focus on creating IP income opportunities in services for IBM’s most strategic clients.

Previously, Mr Varvaro led Global Technology Services in the United States and Canada, where he helped to transform many companies to cutting-edge technologies. Before that, he was stationed in Johannesburg, South Africa, supporting the expansion of IBM’s sub-Sahara business. He is also Board Chairman of the SAIL Foundation.

Joff Wild has been with Sisvel since January 2024 and in his current role is responsible for all externally facing content generated by the company across all forms of media. Previously, he was editor-in-chief of IAM, which he founded in 2003. During this time, he established the IPBC conference franchise and developed a number of IAM-branded publications, including the IAM Strategy 300 and the IAM Patent 1000. He also created the IP Hall of Fame. Prior to IAM, Mr Wild was editor of Patent World and then MIP. He has also contributed to numerous publications, including the Financial Times, The Times, the Wall Street Journal, Euromoney magazine and the American Lawyer.

Christopher Wright is CTO at Iprova, where he leads the development of AI-powered tools for invention creation, invention capture and patent claims charting, including for 3GPP standards. He has also led Iprova’s invention services team on projects spanning fields as diverse as AI, confectionery and telecommunications, creating more than 500 patented inventions.

Drawing on over a decade of experience helping global organisations to deploy AI for invention, Dr Wright has developed deep insight into the practical challenges of implementing AI tools and how to get the most out of them. He is also a published author, with articles including the 2026 Harvard Business Review piece, “Match Your AI Strategy to Your Organization’s Reality”.

Xiaowu (Emil) Zhang is Huawei’s Head of Strategic Planning and Key Projects Department, responsible for planning the company’s IP strategies and leading critical IP-related projects. Previously, Emil led one IP department responsible for end-to-end IP matters relating to Huawei’s important portfolios such as Wi-Fi, multimedia and semiconductors, and for providing legal support to Huawei’s R&D teams. Mr Zhang has spent 20 years with Huawei and leads its various IP practices, including complicated overseas IP disputes resolution, SEP licensing, technology licensing, business cooperation and portfolio planning.