A conversation with Brand Protection Hero at Husqvarna

Last updated on: April 2, 2024

Did you know Husqvarna started off making rifles for the Swedish King? That was some centuries ago. Now their focus is on forest and garden equipment, and some construction tools as well. They’re experts at shifting from traditional to new technologies. Don’t believe us? Take a look at their robotic lawn mowers. 

As part of Red Points’ Heroes of Brand Protection podcast, we’ve spoken to Andreas Iwerbäck, Director of Technology & IP Intelligence at Husqvarna. Head over to our podcast for the full interview or continue reading this article for a sneak peek into his journey. 

Key takeaways:

• Company business overview. 
• Challenges faced as a Brand Protection expert.
• Advice for fellow intellectual property professionals. 

The following is part of the transcript of Heroes of Brand Protection podcast, Episode 8 featuring a conversation between Andreas Iwerbäck and Daniel Shapiro, Red Points’ VP of Brand Relationships. 

Q stands for questions from Daniel Shapiro.

Q: For those that may not know about your business, can you give a brief overview?

We normally call ourselves the world’s oldest start-up, having three hundred thirty two years of history. We actually started making rifles for the Swedish king. We stopped manufacturing rifles about fifty years ago. Now the focus is on forest and garden equipment, and some construction tools as well.

We’re headquartered in Stockholm, Sweden. A fun fact is that we have a large site in a small Swedish town called Huskvarna, and the town is named after the company and not the other way around. We also have major production sites in at least ten countries.

Q: What’s the hardest thing you have to do as a Director of Technology & IP Intelligence?

I think it comes from the role itself: having the whole company as an audience and as a customer. You’re supposed to support everyone but you cannot present the same thing to the CTO as you do to R&D engineers. You need to think ahead and decide what kind of message you want to convey to them, so they can make the right decision. 

We have three divisions being quite different: some work with construction heavy tools, some with watering and gardening tools, and the other with land mowers. You need to have that in your mind as well: what kind of intelligence do they want? They’re not after the same because they’re not competing with the same companies. 

Q: What advice would you give someone wanting to pursue a career similar to yours?

Looking back to my own experience, I would say get to learn the basics, the development of intellectual property. If you want to master commercialization of IP, you benefit massively by having your own experience from actually creating IP. Working as a patent attorney and then working with licensing or trademark attorney. To sum it up: know the basics and know the whole chain of IP.