Marconi has opened its first office in China, in Beijing’s central business district. The company says that the office cements its commitment to providing on-the-ground access to its global intellectual property team in order to support Chinese companies in maximizing the value of IP assets and solving IP challenges at home and abroad.
Marconi’s platforms facilitate sharing patented technologies. The company says that its local presence will allow it to better understand the needs of Chinese companies and support them in facilitating value generation from their R&D through fair, collaborative and cost-effective solutions; succeeding globally with a more efficient and cost-effective means to accessing technology and harnessing growth opportunities; and securing access to technology on fair and reasonable terms, ensuring continued investments in innovation and reducing risk as well as transactional cost.
“The innovation coming out of China is phenomenal and our new office provides us with a means to contribute by partnering with companies to help generate revenue from their IP and accelerate their global expansion,” said CEO Kasim Alfalahi. “Having an on-the-ground presence in the region allows us to better support and get closer to leading innovators in China based on our insights into IP and our global expertise.”
In November, Ilkka Rahnasto joined the company as senior vice president. Rahnasto joined Marconi from Nokia, where he helped build a successful patent licensing businesses. Most recently, he has served as senior vice president of Nokia Technologies, and led the company’s licensing and patent management efforts globally, with patent and brand licensing revenue growing to more than €1.6 billion (US$1.82 billion) in 2017.