SMEs

Nearly 115 million pirated and counterfeit products were discovered by customs authorities in the EU in 2011, some of which pose a risk to health and safety. One way to protect EU markets and consumers is to prevent such goods entering the EU and customs authorities are best placed to do that. On Tuesday, June 11, MEPs voted in favour of new rules to help customs better enforce intellectual property rights.

The new regulation sets down clear rules on the destruction of illegal and dangerous products entering or transiting the EU, but does not change intellectual property protection rules and does not concern non-commercial goods carried by people travelling.

For further information, please click here.

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Joint ownership often arises in connection with collaborative innovation and is of particular relevance to EU-funded programmes, joint ventures and more generally to any research project involving the co-development of intellectual property (IP).

The European IPR Helpdesk has developed a new fact sheet aiming to highlight the most essential IP issues to be addressed when handling jointly owned assets in contractual arrangements, in order to avoid the joint ownership pitfalls. By ensuring that the ownership of the generated IP, and the related responsibility for its protection and defence, are correctly allocated, collaborative projects have more chance to be efficiently implemented and litigation between partners to be avoided.

Have a look at it!

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At the annual ceremony held this year in Amsterdam, the European Patent Office announced the winners of the European Inventor Award 2013, which honours outstanding inventors for their contribution to social, economic and technological progress.

The 2013 awards, which have gone to outstanding inventors from Austria, France, Sweden, Switzerland, Spain and the US, were presented in five categories, in addition to the Popular Prize:

• Lifetime Achievement;
• Industry;
• Small and Medium-Sized Enterprises;
• Research;
• Non-European Countries.

For more details about the European Inventor Award 2013, please click here and here.

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The European ICT Poles of Excellence (EIPE) research project at the Institute for Prospective Technological Studies is investigating the issues of growth, jobs and innovation, which have become main priorities of the European Union’s growth strategy programme ‘Europe 2020’.

This paper, entitled “Does the Patent Cooperation Treaty work? A global analysis of patent applications by non-residents”, aims to answer questions about how the Patent Cooperation Treaty (PCT) works. The PCT is one of the main efforts to harmonize the global patent system. We address the issue of the factors behind non-resident applicants applying for patent protection under foreign jurisdictions and whether PCT membership of a country whose protection is sought plays a role in this process.

The paper is freely downloadable here.

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The Danish Patent and Trademark Office (DKPTO) has developed a portal with the purpose of helping businesses better exploit their knowledge by trading their intellectual property (IP) rights. On the portal page you can find inspiration and a set of tools for trading rights and get the most out of your knowledge.

On the portal you will find information on some of the considerations you should make in connection with trading IPR:

• Guidelines for trading IPR
• Standard contracts and accompanying guidelines for trading patents and utility models
• Valuation tools and accompanying guidance material
• IP Marketplace, where you can offer and request rights

The IP Trade Portal gives you an insight into trading IPR, which you can use in dialogue with your consultant and in negotiations with potential trading partners.

For further information, please click here.

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We are pleased to inform you that the European IPR Helpdesk has produced a new fact sheet dealing with commercial licence agreements.

This booklet is a follow-up to the “Commercialising IP” series, providing an introduction to the forms of commercialisation that can be useful for people involved in exploitation of intangible assets.

This particular fact sheet aims to clarify when licence agreements should be used. Moreover, in this document we highlight the key provisions seen in most licensing agreements, as well as the specifics of licensing certain types of intellectual property rights.

Follow the link below to download this hands-on document.

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Join the EU IPR Helpdesk webinars in May!

Interested in learning more about licensing, including negotiation tips and legal traps? Or would you like to deepen your knowledge of Technology Transfer? Then, please feel free to register for our upcoming virtual training courses in May. You can join our webinars conveniently from your own computer, either from your office or home. Participation in the training courses is free of charge.

Detailed information on registration and learning objectives is available on our website:

6 May 2013: Licensing

27 May 2013: Technology Transfer

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We are pleased to inform you that the ninth issue of the European IPR Helpdesk Bulletin has been released and is now available on-line.

A central thread of this European IPR Helpdesk Bulletin is related to the efficient management of intellectual property (IP) as a tool for commercial gains. From a brief description of an interesting tool put at the disposal of organisations by the Danish patent and trade marks office (DKPTO), to test the efficiency of their strategy, to two others article on IP commercialisation highlights and using customs for intellectual property enforcement, you will be given suggestions and recommendations on how make the most of your intangible assets.

An article specifically on trade marks will tell you that a good brand incontestably brings an added value to the organisations, but the success of the trade mark requires a solid and well prepared strategy. In addition to that, a case study will put forward the way a University Technology Transfer Division can facilitate the process of connecting industry with research institutes (and vice versa) and to actively support the cooperation as a whole.

The usual quiz, information about the new Ambassador scheme and other events of interests will close our quarterly publication, which we hope will be thought-provoking!

This booklet, issued by the U.K. Intellectual Property Office (UKIPO)  as a part of the Healthcheck booklet series, is designed to help you become an informed consumer of the IP Adviser services you require to obtain registered rights. It:

• contains an overview of the potential sources of IP services available (including certain sources of reliable free advice);
• suggests a number of questions you should ask before engaging your adviser;
• provides answers to a number of commonly asked specific questions.

You can freely download this booklet here.

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