Patent translator: how to align IP, R&D, sales and management | Talk IP to me Ep.3

IP manager Katalin Sólyom, Ph.D. shares a practical playbook for aligning patents with fast-moving products, and getting the whole company to speak “IP” with you.

Katalin leads IP at Gehring Technologies after nearly a decade in chemical engineering and biotech research. That lab-to-IP transition gives her a rare dual view: how inventions are created and how they become defendable, valuable business assets.

In this episode, Katalin sits down with David Breitenbach (CCO, PatentRenewal.com) to unpack what IP management looks like on the ground - culture, process, and decisions - when you can’t afford waste and the roadmap keeps changing.

She explains:

◼️ Bridging the gap between R&D, sales/marketing, finance, and leadership so IP is understood as a tool, not just a cost.

◼️ Why IP is a “foreign language” for many teams, and how consistent terms and simple explanations change decisions.

◼️ The process shift that took her team from reviewing 3 patents/hour to 20, and a great feedback system.

◼️ Balancing data vs. intuition (hello, Kahneman’s “What You See Is All There Is”) and checking hidden assumptions.

◼️ How e-mobility and the realities in the OEM industry demand flexibility, modularity, and constant FTO awareness.

◼️ Quick lenses for value: in-product use, ability to block competitors, and licensing potential, plus where she’d start if forced to cut 20%.

00:00 Intro

02:42 If leadership doesn’t recognize the value of IP

05:46 Cultural challenge of decision making and communication

07:10  Alignment meetings vs working with R&D

08:11  Helping leadership understand IP

11:00 Seeing the value of IP

13:59 Quality of decision making

19:06 Making decisions based on  hard data vs intuition

20:56 Process for evaluating past decisions?

24:16 B2B2C - Flexibility in the OEM industry

25:59 E-mobility and product consolidation

26:36 Rapid fire questions

Follow Katalin:

https://www.linkedin.com/in/katalinsolyom/

Join the PatentRenewal.com’s circle on LinkedIn:

https://bit.ly/patentrenewalcom

Follow David:

https://bit.ly/david-breitenbach

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About us

At PatentRenewal.com, we believe IP renewals should be simple, transparent, and stress-free. We care about innovation and about making IP easier to understand and easier to use.

That’s why we created Talk IP to me, the podcast that brings fresh conversations to the world of intellectual property.

In each episode, innovators, IP experts, founders, and legal minds share real stories, hard-won lessons, and practical insights you can actually apply in your work.

Our goal is simple: make IP feel human, practical, and accessible.