OxFora’s 14th IP & Competition Forum will take place on 23–24 June 2026 in Munich, bringing together senior voices from the judiciary, patent authorities, competition regulators, industry and academia to examine how patent enforcement is becoming a central issue for global technology strategy.
The Forum will be held under the theme “The Global Patent Chess Game: International Patent Strategy in a Fragmented World Order.” It will focus on the growing importance of patent litigation, standard-essential patents, FRAND licensing, injunctions, competition policy and cross-border enforcement in shaping technology markets.
Patent disputes are increasingly international. A decision in one jurisdiction can influence licensing negotiations, market access and commercial outcomes in several others. This is especially important in sectors such as telecommunications, automotive technology, electronics, software, streaming and digital markets, where patented technologies are often used across borders and embedded in global standards.
Questions that were once seen as highly specialised legal matters now have wider economic relevance. Who can obtain an injunction? How should standard-essential patents be licensed? How should FRAND rates be determined? What happens when courts in different countries deal with overlapping disputes? These issues affect not only litigants, but also innovation, competition, investment and access to technology.
“Patent enforcement has become a matter of international strategy,” said Dr Roya Ghafele, convenor of the Forum and Managing Director of OxFirst. “Injunctions, standard-essential patents and global licensing disputes are no longer isolated legal questions. They shape market access, competition and the global economic order.”
Key judicial and institutional perspectives will include contributions from Prof. Dr. Peter Meier-Beck, UPC Advisory Board and Presiding Judge at the German Federal Court of Justice, retired; Sir James Mellor of the High Court of England and Wales; Dr. Oliver Schoen and Dr. Hubertus Schacht of the Munich judiciary; Judge Fabian Hoffmann of the German Federal Court of Justice; Judge Victor Jaccoud Diz Torres from Rio de Janeiro, Brazil; and Judge Juan He, Senior Judge at the Intellectual Property Court of the Supreme People’s Court of China.
The Forum will also include perspectives from the European Commission, patent offices, competition authorities and major market participants. Practice, economic and market perspectives will be represented by organisations including Licks Attorneys, OxFirst, Hogan Lovells, RPX and Nokia, bringing insights from international patent litigation, patent valuation, patent risk management, licensing strategy and the commercial realities facing global technology companies.
A central theme of the Forum will be whether international patent enforcement can become more predictable. Businesses need legal certainty to invest, license and innovate. Courts and regulators, meanwhile, must balance effective patent protection with competition, market access and the public interest in technological diffusion.
The discussions will cover standard-essential patents, FRAND licensing, injunctions, long-arm jurisdiction, patent quality, competition policy, streaming, digital markets and the economics of licensing. The programme will also consider how parallel proceedings and cross-border disputes are changing the way companies approach patent strategy.
The 14th IP & Competition Forum is designed as a high-level forum for legal, economic, regulatory and industry perspectives. Its purpose is to examine how patents, competition law and international business strategy increasingly intersect in a fragmented global environment.
The 14th IP & Competition Forum will take place on 23–24 June 2026 at the DPMA – German Patent and Trademark Office in Munich.
To join the Forum, register interest, or explore speaking and sponsorship opportunities, visit:
OxFora.org
Further information on OxFirst’s work in IP economics, valuation and competition analysis is available at:
OxFirst.com
To register your interest email info@oxfirst.com
