Team Speaking first, Uwe Over (Henkel; MARQUES Council and Anti Counterfeiting and Parallel Trade Team member) spoke on IP portfolio consolidation. After describing his company's IP portfolio in terms of its magnitude and range of rights (think PERSIL, LOCTITE, PRITT, to name but a few), Uwe contrasted the conservative limitation of consolidation to an exercise in "cost chase" with a more broadly-focused perspective, looking at efficiency increase and a more dynamic style of IP portfolio management. Uwe explained the three pillars of his best practice. First, IP Portolio Structure, to keep control of what comes in and what goes out; secondly, Control of Resources; thirdly, Internal and External Team management. The particulars of each of these pillars, and their interrelationship, were succinctly adumbrated by Uwe. At base, the ideal balance reflects the combination of cash, talent, precision, predictability and time. Budget processes have to match a business's requirements and they must always be assessed in relation to their results. Uwe concluded with his vision that top management would gaze admiringly at the way the way the portfolio is run and say "This is IP portfolio management at its best!"

Securitisation and pledges were the tough topic tackled in typically Dutch no-nonsense fashion by Anne Marie Verschuur (NautaDutilh).  Anne Marie gave a simple explanation of the issues for an audience composed largely of people who are not wholly comfortable when dealing with IP financial instruments, and offered a variety of practical tips.  She wisely reminded us of the importance of a licence's termination provisions: do they break the licence in the event of the insolvency of the licensor, leaving the licensee unprotected? Negotiation with the trustee in bankruptcy is also an option, one which may have its appeal to the trustee if he sees a potential income stream. She concluded with two takeaway messages: always be aware of the large picture, and always be wary of the effects of bankruptcy.

 Severin de Wit (IPEG Consultancy) concluded the session by talking on monetisation of brands. After reminiscing about some old brands that seem to have died without realising any cash (see eg SIMCA, left), he reviewed the monetarisation of different types of IP right and suggested that, relative to other rights, trade marks are not tapped for their latent value as much as some other rights. Trade mark rights may be underutilised as business assets, he asserted, and discussed the various issues that might lead a brand owner to take the monetisation path, in terms of where, when, and how it might be advisable to do it. He also itemised a number of issues that are specific to the calculation of the value of any given brand. These include how protectable it is and what value is attached to its (non)use.  Severin concluded by testing the audience as to how much they might bid for a patent that turned out to be Michael Jackson's anti-gravity patent, now purchased by Nike for a vast sum.