Background
Axel is an IP management consultant with extensive technology and business background, including large international contracts and R&D collaborations. He is a European Trademark and Design Attorney and has filed and prosecuted numerous trademarks with the European and Norwegian trademark offices (EUIPO, NIPO). Axel also actively prosecutes patents with the Norwegian patent office (NIPO).
Axel joined Dehns in 2021 when the IP management consultancy Leogriff that he co-founded in 2002 became Dehns’ Oslo office.
Type of clients and client work
The clients Axel mainly works with are SMEs, incubators and research institutes, where he helps develop projects and companies via best practice IP Management. Axel has a broad industrial background from process industry, oil, infrastructure equipment and software, as well as experience in various fields such as offshore wind, energy conversion, or nutraceuticals.
From early-stage research project screening to licensing or exit, he has significant experience of harvesting ideas as well as developing IP portfolios and internal IP management practices to generate competitive advantage from innovative technology. Axel advises on IP strategy, policies and implementation of routines. He also initiates, advises on and supervises filing and prosecution of IP rights worldwide.
Expertise
Axel has worked extensively with startup companies on securing IP ownership, mitigating risk, and attracting funding. Capturing innovations and formalizing their ownership, investigating patent and trademark landscape for Freedom to Operate/Use, every day preparing the company for Due Diligence, are common aspects of his work.
Axel routinely advises his clients with IP management under preparation, negotiation, operation and closing of R&D collaborations, be they EU Horizon or Norwegian projects.
Qualifications and Memberships
- European Trademark Attorney, 2016
- European Design Attorney 2016
- Licensing Executive Society (LES) member
Higher Education
Master of Business Administration, BI – Norwegian School of Management, 2000
MSc (sivilingeniør), ENSG (France), Geological Engineering/Geophysics, 1986
Other
Axel has followed courses in Business Law (Markedsrett – 2016) and Law on Copyright (Åndverksloven – 2024) at the University of Oslo. He has participated to several courses related to the management of EU Horizon projects, organised by the Norwegian Research Council (B4, C2, C4 – 2024). Axel speaks fluent French (native tongue), English and Norwegian (and is able to conduct business meetings in these languages); he also speaks conversational Italian and German, and a reasonable amount of Spanish.
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Department
consulting