Dr Madelein Kleyn

Dr. Madelein M. Kleyn is the Founder and CEO of MAD K IP Consulting (Pty) Ltd, an independent IP and commercial advisory practice serving clients in South Africa and internationally.

She brings more than two decades of experience leading intellectual property and legal strategy in multinational environments and complex technology-driven organisations. Over her career, she has held senior roles including Chief Legal & IP Officer at Omnisient, Director of Technology Transfer at Innovus (Stellenbosch University), Group Manager: Intellectual Property & Legal at Oro Agri International (now Rovensa Next), and Chief IP Legal Advisor and in‑house counsel at Sasol. She also serves as an IP expert consultant and counsel with Hahn & Hahn Attorneys.

What Dr. Kleyn does

Dr. Kleyn partners with leadership teams to translate legal, regulatory and IP risk into practical strategy that supports growth, investment readiness and long‑term value creation. Her work is typically engaged when the issues are complex, cross‑border, or business‑critical.

Her practice includes:

IP strategy and portfolio leadership (patents, designs and trade marks), including prosecution oversight and portfolio optimisation.

Commercial IP transactions including technology licensing, collaboration agreements, assignments, confidentiality and know‑how protection.

Technology transfer and commercialisation including deal structuring, business models, royalty frameworks and negotiation support.

IP-led due diligence and M&A support, including IP risk identification and transaction readiness.

Cross-border IP structuring, exchange control approvals, and IP considerations in intercompany arrangements and transfer pricing.

Data, privacy and regulatory contracting support for technology platforms and data‑driven business models.

Dispute support including infringement/validity opinions and litigation strategy input.

Industry experience

Dr. Kleyn has advised and led matters across:

Energy transition, energy and chemicals (including GTL/BTL and related process technologies)

Petrochemicals and refining

Agriculture and crop protection / agri‑inputs

Higher education and publicly financed R&D commercialisation

Biotechnology and early‑stage ventures

Data/AI and privacy‑enhancing analytics platforms

Credentials, leadership and recognition

Dr. Kleyn holds a PhD (Private Law) focused on intellectual property strategy from the University of Cape Town, and an LLM (Tax) focused on IP and transfer pricing. She is widely published and regularly invited to speak on IP strategy, technology transfer, trade secrets, and the interface between IP and competition/antitrust law.

She has been recognised internationally, including listing in IAM Strategy 300 (2015–2025) and World Trademark Review’s leading corporate trademark professionals (2016–2024).

Practice approach

Dr. Kleyn’s approach is collaborative and business‑led: clear advice, strong drafting, practical options and decisive execution—helping clients protect innovation while moving the business forward.