IPBC-what am I looking forward to?

Well here we are at IPBC (the IP Business Conference) 2010 in Munich at the (it has to be said) very very nice Bayerischer Hof hotel. Perhaps a touch on the pricey side for Brits paying in pounds but nevertheless very nice.

I’ve already seen a few of the IP community around, Joff Wild looking very calm over Sunday breakfast and the giant Bo Heiden towering over the diminuitive Bruce Berman.

This is a good event to attend. Joff tries very hard in the program to cover a wide variety of tastes and interests with a dedicated theme. This year we  have a specific plenary session dedicated to SMEs which I’m very much looking forward to presenting on and giving our view of the IP world from the bottom of the market.

I’ve not heard Nir Kossovsky speak or met him so I’m looking forward to that. It will also be interesting to hear Gerard from IPXI-I wonder how close they’re getting to turn another Jim Malackowski vision into a reality. IVs charm offensive continues with Vincent Pluvenage here-intriguing title Vincent (General manager of strategic acquisition, alliances & private equity)-wonder what all that means?

I always like to see at these conferences if (1) anyone is saying anything new (2) there are any new kids on the advisory block. One of my themes tomorrow will be that patents are losing their grip as the weapon of absolute choice in SME land. I’ve challenged Richard Buttrick who’s facilitating our SME session to see if we can get through 90 minutes and not mention patents more than 5 times.

Look out for some tweets.