Convincing SMEs thatintellectual property matters

Managing innovation: economic aspects of industrial property

Kraków2-3 September 2010

Jeremy PhilpottEuropean Patent Academy

What will we discuss today?

• Brief introduction to the EPO

• Making intellectual property relevant for SMEs

• Activities of the European Patent Academy

37 member states

European patent applications and patents can also be extended at the applicant's request to the following states:

Bosnia-Herzegovina • Montenegro • Serbia1

1 Serbia will join the EPO with effect from 1 October 2010

Albania • Austria • Belgium • Bulgaria • Croatia • Cyprus • Czech Republic • Denmark • Estonia • Finland • France • Germany • Greece • Hungary • Iceland • Ireland • Italy • Latvia • Liechtenstein • Lithuania • Luxembourg • Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia • Malta • Monaco • Netherlands • Norway • Poland • Portugal • Romania • San Marino • Slovakia • Slovenia • Spain • Sweden • Switzerland • Turkey • United Kingdom

Autonomy

• Second largest

intergovernmental

institution in Europe

• Not an EU institution

• Self-financing, i.e.

revenue from fees

covers operating and

capital expenditure

Number of staff in 2009

Munich 3 718

The Hague 2 710

Berlin 274

Vienna 112

Total 6 818

Around 60% are patent examiners

Brussels 4

83 567

63 077

78 646

55 896

0 90 000

2008 2009

Applications filed

Direct European filings

Euro-PCT applications entering the regional phase

European patents granted

59 809

51 969

0 64 000

2008

2009

The EPO grants only ca 40% of all applications received

Poland was designated on ca 40.06% of all granted patents 20 821Only 33 patents from Poland were granted in 2009: just 0,9 patents per million inhabitants. The European average is 46,9.

Applications by residence of applicant (2009)

Only 173 patent applications

from Poland were filed in 2009,

up from 104 in 2007.

This equates to just 4.5 applications

per million inhabitants.

The European average is 116,1.

Why does intellectual property matter?

• IP enables creativity to be protected, and clearly establishes who owns what

• IP can be licensed or sold

• It can be a key negotiating tool - a "deal-maker"

• IP will attract investment

• IP appears as an asset on the company accounts, even if other parts of the business get into trouble

One product – many IP rightsim

age

© N

OK

IA®

• Reg. Designs for phone shape

• Reg. Trade Mark - "NOKIA" & start-up tone

• Copyright - software, ringtones & images

• Patents - for technology to produce and

operate. Some pooled or cross-licensed,

others kept exclusive

• Trade secrets - some technical know-how

kept "in-house" and not published

"What has IP got to do with me?"

• SMEs do not see the relevance of IP to themselves - it is only for big companies

• Most are not active in patentable areas...

• ... but all of them work with copyright and brands!

• Most regard IP as expensive, complicated and risky

• Most are ignorant of the money to be made, and the opportunities created

From ip4inno Module 6B - "Selling the message"

Focus on the easy stuff

• "Our company does not have any IP"

• Tell them about copyright and other forms of unregistered IP

• Once they realise that they are already IP owners, it is easier to convince them of the relevance of IP

• Even with patents, focus on patent information for strategic intelligence; or explain licensing-in as an alternative to patent ownership

From ip4inno Module 6B - "Selling the message"

Patents - what not to say

• Describing patents simply as a way to block competitors

is out-of-date and unconvincing

• Few SMEs can afford litigation to enforce anyway

• Few SMEs care about controlling a monopoly!

• Explaining how to apply for a patent is less important

than explaining why to apply

From ip4inno Module 6B - "Selling the message"

Patents in context

• Knowing patent law is not the same as knowing patent

strategy

• Examples of how patent strategy, as part of overall

business planning, can bring commercial advantages, is

far more persuasive than lecturing on patent law

• Speak the language of the SMEs - MONEY

From ip4inno Module 6B - "Selling the message"

IP can impact SMEs in unexpected ways...

• A graphic designer has been commissioned by a client

to produce publicity material on paper that folds in a

very special way.

• The supplier of this paper states he owns the patent

on this particular type of folded paper, and will charge

a high price. He threatens the designer that using

similar paper supplied by anyone else would be an

infringement of his patent rights.

The graphic designer and the folded paper

• Does the supplier really have a patent? No, he doesn't!

• The public patent database, esp@cenet, shows that he only has a pending application. The number of citations against the application, according to the search report, casts doubt on its likelihood for future success.

• The database shows over 200 other documents relating to the same technology. Many of these are not in force.

• The proprietor of one of these other documents (an abandoned application) has no patent rights, but is still able to happily supply the designer much more cheaply.

Popular Event Formats

• SMEs have very little spare time

• Offer e.g. 2 hour events in the evening

• Co-ordinate with a respected partner, e.g. Chamber of Commerce, Enterprise Europe Network office, University, Trade Association

• Use a mix of speakers, e.g. an IP attorney, a business advisor and a case study

• SMEs often trust messages from the private sector more than from public sector

From ip4inno Module 6B - "Selling the message"

Publications

www.ip4inno.eu

ip4inno - twelve teaching modules, each 3-hours long

1A Patent basics

1B Other industrial property, e.g. reg. trade marks & reg. designs

2A Copyright & related rights

2B "Soft" IP - trade secrets, know-how, confidential information etc.

3A Patent information for supporting business decisions

3B esp@cenet tutorial

4A IP commercialisation (licensing; valuing; strategy)

4B Business planning around IP

5A IP enforcement (litigation & ADR; piracy & counterfeiting)

5B IP problem-solving exercises

6A IP issues by sector: Creative Industries; Software & CII; Biotech.

6B Promoting IP to SMEs (running workshops; PR campaigns)

Thank you for your attention!

Jeremy Philpott

Innovation Support jphilpott@epo.org

European Patent Academy +49 89 2399 5405

www.epo.org/academy

Inventors' Handbook

www.epo.org/topics/innovation-and-economy/handbook.html

New e-learning modules on computer-implemented inventions:

https://e-learning.epo.org -> Open Access modules -> Patent Knowledge

More extensive training for business advisors on a range of IP issues is available through the ip4inno project: http://www.ip4inno.eu/