Kazuki Kawakami is general manager and the head of IP strategy office at Panasonic Energy Co., Ltd. He is responsible for all aspects of IP activity including prosecution, licensing and developing IP strategies. Mr Kawakami joined the semiconductor business division of Panasonic Corporation in 2001 as a patent prosecution engineer but later expanded his role to include IP licensing. From 2008 to 2016 Mr Kawakami served as the manager of semiconductor’s IP licensing team and was responsible for all licensing negotiations and litigations concerning semiconductor field for the entire Panasonic Group. Before assuming his current position, Mr Kawakami served as the president of Panasonic Intellectual Property Corporation of America, a subsidiary of Panasonic Group that is dedicated to IP. Recently, he joined launch of joint licensing programme for Lithium Ion batteries with LG Energy Solution and Tulip Innovation. Mr Kawakami holds bachelor and master of engineering degrees from Kyoto University.