Last month, Mang Zhu stepped down from her role as Vice President, Head of IP at InterDigital, before being officially replaced by Angela Barr on July 3, 2025 (LinkedIn post by Mang Zhu). This marks the company’s second major departure this year, after Eeva Hakoranta also stepped down from her role of Chief Licensing Officer (replaced – on an interim basis – by Julia Mattis: April 7, 202 ip fray article).
Ms. Zhu, who was responsible for the development and maintenance of more than 30,000 patent assets and for long-term patent strategy, worked very closely with Ms. Barr during her 20 months at the company. She says she is an “excellent choice” for the role, bringing “outstanding credentials” and “unique experience” in both patent prosecution and portfolio management, and is “highly intelligent and, just as importantly, a genuinely kind and collaborative person”.
Ms. Barr previously led InterDigital’s internal patent attorney team and accompanied Ms. Zhu on visits to the company’s global sites, where they communicated new initiatives to the patent teams and inventors across various research groups.
Ms. Zhu sat down with ip fray to reflect on her time at InterDigital, discuss what’s next for her, and share what she’d tell younger women aspiring to get to her position following her decades-long career in SEP licensing.
Building out a cohesive IP licensing unit
InterDigital’s revenue is chiefly generated through patent licensing – a portion of which is then reinvested into further research and patent filings, creating a continuous cycle of innovation and monetization. Last week, the company released its second-quarter numbers and its CEO Liren Chen said the total contract value of licenses signed since 2021 is now more than $4 billion, with the billion-dollar Samsung deal being the biggest license agreement in the company’s history (July 30, 2025 ip fray article).
Ms. Zhu’s mission was to lead the patent team in building and maintaining high-quality patent portfolios that support those licensing efforts. Over the past 20 months, she launched several strategic initiatives and established corresponding projects to support them, which required close collaboration among internal patent teams, research teams, and outside counsel.
She emphasizes that it is “essential” that all parties operate as a “cohesive” and “streamlined” unit, working toward the shared goal of developing high-quality patent portfolios. During her time, several significant enhancements with great results were made, she notes.
Ms. Zhu underlines three highlights from her 20-month stint:
- Introduction of new lifecycle patent portfolio management strategies and methodologies designed to enhance portfolio quality and establish a more robust and effective management system.
- Built a strong patent team by enhancing professional skills, realigning and reorganizing resources to improve efficiency, and fostering a more collaborative environment within the team and across the company – also strengthened relationships with various research teams to support alignment and drive innovation.
- Worked to maintain a balanced budget, ensuring strong financial control without compromising the quantity or quality of the patent portfolio.
Authenticity is essential for lasting success
Reflecting on her career, Ms. Zhu says she feels fortunate to have grown up in a family that encouraged her to be competitive and gave her equal opportunities in both academics and life.
“I’ve never felt disadvantaged as a woman when it comes to intelligence or capability,” she notes.
Ms. Zhu’s first role in IP came to her when she’d already been an engineer at Motorola Mobility for over nine years, and her then-manager recruited her to work on the patent management team, which supported the company’s patent licensing work, in 2002. Although her technical background, particularly in technology standards, played a key role in shaping that journey, she says she is especially grateful to her manager for that opportunity.
She then stayed at Motorola until January 2017, when she took up her post at ZTE from the company’s former head of IPR, whom she had met during a past licensing deal negotiation. She steered the Chinese SEP giant’s patent management team – and then the entire patent team – from its subsidiary in the U.S. for nearly seven years before moving to InterDigital.
To women who aspire to get to the very top roles, Ms. Zhu says:
“There are many specialized areas within IP, each suited to different strengths and talents – so if you feel drawn to this field, don’t hesitate; pursue it.”
While she notes that she’s faced the difficult moments and had to learn to let go of the negative impacts and keep moving forward, she recognizes the great deal of support she has received along the way, too:
“Being authentic is essential – no matter what field you’re in, being a decent person is the foundation for lasting success.”
Ms. Zhu also shares what she feels is the key to getting a licensing deal done: building a relationship.
This is especially important for Asian companies, with which it is important to get to know outside of the dealmaking room, too. And, with companies that like to litigate, it is key for licensors and licensees to approach them with a strong portfolio that they know how to leverage to convince them why they could risk facing an injunction, she adds.
“Be transparent, direct, and friendly with opponents – and teach them why it will be a huge advantage for them to take a license from you,” she says.
So what’s next for Ms. Zhu?
“I don’t intend to work indefinitely, but I do plan to stay active for another two to three years, at least, focusing on areas that genuinely interest me—ensuring my expertise in SEP portfolio management and knowledge in patent licensing continue to be put to good use,” she says. Noting that the proposed EU SEP Regulation, although definitely withdrawn at the end of July, is a sign that licensees and licensors are still moving in the wrong direction when it comes to licensing negotiations (July 31, 2025 ip fray article), she says:
“People need to focus more on understanding each other’s portfolios, and I would like to help develop some sort of methodology to pinpoint the exact value patents contribute (or don’t contribute) to different tech areas. Given my experience with licensors, I’d like to spend the last few years of my career helping licensees better understand their opponents’ portfolios.”