What the auto IP community is really talking about: Takeaways from IAM Live Auto IP Europe 2026

On 22 October 2026, more than 120 automotive IP leaders met at the Rosewood in Munich for IAM Live: Auto IP Europe. We were there for PATOffice, just a few minutes from our own office.

The official agenda covered SEP licensing, battery IP and litigation trends. The most useful insights, however, came from the questions behind the panels. How do IP teams prove their value with fewer people? Where does AI actually help? And where does it create new risk?

Here are my four key takeaways.

1. Litigation is moving to the UPC

The message from the litigation sessions was clear: fewer cases end up before national and regional courts, and more go to the Unified Patent Court. For automotive companies, a single European action now carries far more weight than a national one.

Mediation, by contrast, was seen mainly as an option for SMEs. For large players, not signing a licence is often a deliberate business decision rather than a dispute waiting to be settled.

There was also a clear trend of more disputes initiated by Chinese companies in Germany. Tools such as file inspection are gaining importance as companies try to understand the other side early.

What this means: If enforcement happens at European scale, you need to know your own portfolio and the competitive landscape at European scale too, before the first letter arrives.

2. Managing risk and showing value at the same time

One session dealt with the double role of in-house IP: protecting the company and proving that this protection pays off.

Hirschvogel put it pragmatically. The company wins through technology and quality. If you solve a problem your competitors cannot solve, you win.

The practical levers discussed were simple:

• IP checkpoints with researchers and engineers early in development, not only when a filing decision is due
• Involving R&D again later, so inventors see what happened to their ideas
• Creating awareness and engagement across teams, because IP collaboration only works when R&D sees it as useful rather than as admin

Several speakers stressed that technology landscapes matter most when they close the loop back to R&D. An analysis nobody in development reads creates no value.

3. GenAI is yesterday's topic. Agentic AI is next

A year ago, conversations were about whether generative AI belongs in IP work at all. In Munich, that question felt settled. The new focus is agentic AI: systems that do not just answer a prompt but carry out multi-step tasks.

One point came up repeatedly: LLMs already do a good job at classifying patents. That is a big boost for investment decisions, because portfolio and landscape questions can be answered faster and with more data behind them.

At the same time, the room was realistic about limits:

• Relying on AI alone does not work. Legal cases against patent attorneys are rising, a few in Germany but far more in the US. Liability stays with people.
• Buying an AI tool is not a strategy. Companies need to know what the AI multiplier is for their team, meaning which work gets faster or better, by how much, and why.

4. Where IP professionals still build a moat

Stephan Woelke (Thyssenkrupp) asked the question every IP professional should ask: where can I create value that AI will not replace?

His answer: focus on the areas that stay a moat. Drafting is increasingly something AI can support. Communication is not. Explaining the business relevance of a portfolio, aligning R&D and management, and leading licensing discussions remain human work.

For IP teams under budget pressure, this is a useful lens. Automate the repeatable parts, and invest the freed-up time where judgement and trust matter.

My conclusion

Automotive IP is under pressure from two sides: European-scale litigation and fast-moving technology. The teams that do well will know their portfolio precisely, use AI where it is reliable, and spend their own time where it counts.

That is exactly what we built PATOffice for. AI-supported patent research and monitoring that gives IP teams a clear picture fast, with people staying in control.