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IP support and IP strategy development in the Austrian innovation system plus a brief look at Switzerland and Ireland
Alfred Radauer, Senior Consultant IPICA Workshop Barbados, March 25 2015
Agenda
• Introduction to the Austrian innovation system and IP support system
• The IP strategy development process in Austria • IP strategy development steps in Switzerland and Ireland • Conclusion
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IP AND INNOVATION IN AUSTRIA
Part I
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A very brief look at the Austrian innovation system
• 8.5 million inhabitants • Ranked 10th in Innovation Union Scoreboard (IUS) of the EU
(“innovation follower“) in 2014 • Two ministries responsible for innovation
• Federal Ministry of Science, Research and Economy (bmwfw) • Federal Ministry for Transport, Innovation and Technology (bmvit)
• Three main executing agencies • The Austrian Science Fund (FWF) for basic research • Austrian Research Promotion Agency (FFG) for applied research • Austrian federal promotional bank (aws) for business support, also in the
area of innovation • Austrian Council for Research and Technology Development (advisory
body) • ..and many many more actors (particularly at regional level)
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IP support in Austria
• At federal level • Austrian Patent Office • aws
• ...plus support provided at regional level • Different in every region
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The support portfolio of the Austrian Patent Office
• Apart from examination work, the office has established a subsidiary called serv.ip
• serv.ip tasks • Execution of patent and trademark search services
• Standardised products • Priced according to content and delivery time
• Seminars • Events • Training • Collaboration with aws on the programme discover.IP
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Support measures of the aws (I) Programs for IPR | Market Research
IP.Consulting
IP.Financing
IP.Exploitation
IP.Enforce- ment
EU Projects
Grants for patent applications outside the EPC
Patent commercialization for private investors and
SME`s
Grants & supports to enforce Austrian IPR in emerging key markets
Market research
Market research for technology oriented SME and High-Tech-Start Ups
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7 Source: aws 2013
Support measures of the aws (II)
1. discover.IP • Analysis of IP situation of a firm (form of IP audit) • Austrian version of the successful French scheme ‘IP Prédiagnosis’ • Modular approach, base module for SMEs with less than 50 employees
offered for free 2. aws.Markt.Chancen.Check
• Advisory session on market prospect for high-tech SMEs • For free
3. aws.MarketResearch • Research on firms, technologies and markets • Costs between € 180 and € 2,500
4. License.IP • Assessment of technology needs of SMEs that could be licensed in • Search for licensing partners from which licenses can be obtained • Subsidy for licensing cost of 50% (max. € 200,000)
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Support measures of the aws (III)
5. IP.Finance • Advice on IP matters in China, India and Russia • Subsidy for patent filings in non-EPC countries (50% of costs,
maximum € 18,000) 6. IP.Enforcement
• Support for IP enforcement outside of Austria • Accompanying firms in the process • Subsidy for external legal advice and measures (up to 50% and €
100,000) 7. IP.Exploitation
• Support for finding licensing partners (out-licensing) for SMEs • Subsidy for patenting costs up to 100% • Share of revenue has to be paid back
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Support measures of the aws (IV)
8. Programme ‘Knowledge Transfer Centres’ • To Support knowledge transfer from the research sector to industry • Module 1a: Regional knowledge transfer centres
• Three such centres: east, south and west • To support coordination for knowledge transfer activities and inter-
university collaborative projects in that area • Module 1b: Thematic knowledge transfer centre
• Austrian-wide infrastructure and competence network for the life sciences • To support development process from research to market in drug and
diagnostic markets • Module 2: Patent subsidy for universities • Module 3: Prototype subsidy/competition ‘PRIZE’ for universities
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IP STRATEGY DEVELOPMENT
Part II
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Baseline – Genesis of the IP strategy
• Government programme of 2013 to 2018 • […] • Subsection on Research and innovation • Arts and culture
• Measures • […] • “Grand strategy for intellectual property: To make use of the full
potential of Intellectual Property and implementation of a national strategy for IP, taking account of all stakeholders and the full bandwidth of IP”
Source: Internal presentation of bmwfw/bmvit
Challenges identified by government
• Global developments • EU patent • Increase of number of patent grants valid in Austria • „Aggressive“ IP strategies from countries in emerging markets • Balance between IPR competition and IPR protection
• Austrian potential not fully exploited • Austria today only average in Europe • Innovation follower (no leader) • Low awareness in the business community (particularly with SMEs)
à Ministries tasked by government to create a national IP strategy that takes the whole bandwidth of IP into consideration
13 Source: Internal presentation of bmwfw/bmvit
Overarching Goals
• Increase of innovation performance • Becoming an innovation leader
14 Source: Internal presentation of bmwfw/bmvit
The process
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bmwfw bmvit
Steering group
WG1 WG2 WG3
Core���team
Reflexion group
Stake-holder
Source: Internal presentation of bmwfw/bmvit
Working group 1 – Generation of IP
• Topics • IP in the science system: Status of performance contracts – main
points, targets and goals, goal systems at the level of institutions • Framework conditions for effective science-industry collaboration • IP and Research funding/promotion at federal and regional level • IP generation in SMEs and industry • RTDI collaborations • Framework conditions for universities and firms (SMEs/large firms) • Support measures (individual inventors, universities, firms) • IP awareness: information services, communication, outreach • IP education system
16 Source: Internal presentation of bmwfw/bmvit
Working group 2 – Exploitation of IP
• Topics • Technology transfer and role of IP for start-ups • Framework conditions for academic spin-offs and business
incubation • Valuation of IP, IP and company valuation and finance • Tradability of IPRs (e.g., market places), licensing of IP • Support instruments and organisations to foster exploitation • Management of IP in firms: international trends,
internationalisation, protection strategies
17 Source: Internal presentation of bmwfw/bmvit
Working group 3 – Administration, support and protection • Topics
• Status and role of state institutions (particularly the role of the patent office)
• International treaties, trends and developments • IP application, administration and protection system – current and
future demand, and support systems • National framework conditions for IPR and product piracy • Impact of the unitary patent • Steering the national support system
• Particular target groups and needs • Regional and national needs • Targets and goals for support infrastructure
• National Policies for international actors, interface to the customer • Performance indicators, monitoring and measurement of progress 18
Output per WG – a report
• Format ppt • Per subject 1.5 pages • Short and precise • Prioritisation of topics • 5 considerations for the analysis of the topics
• Analysis of national subsystem (status quo) in terms of innovation affinity
• Identification of good practices to support innovation • Identification for areas where to act • Clear catalogue of targets and goals • Concrete measures for implementation
19 Source: Internal presentation of bmwfw/bmvit
Status
• 3 meetings in each working group • All meetings of WGs finished (end of 2014/beginning 2015), now
work on-going with ministry to draft strategy • Results only of WG1 known to the presenter (where he
participated) • Strategy likely finished in 2015
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Some challenges noted in the working group
• IP awareness is low in Austria • Unclear roles of universities and research centres in heir handling
of IP • IP management skills in firms improvable • IP exploitation based on bilateral models, while multilateral
models are needed • New models of innovation to be supported such as open innovation
• Measuring success of IP policies is an issue • Currently too quantitative
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Challenges noted by TTOs present in WG1
• Research outputs/patents from university are in their infancy concerning exploitation and there is need for fostering proof of concepts/prototypes • Very costly, difficult to finance • PRIZE is too seldom executed • Finance issues for small prototypes, software • Passing the „death valley“ difficult
• Regarding the business involvement • Pressure for business friendly cooperation contracts • Little willingness to give money for IP; however, high demands in
terms of secrecy • Know-how of university TTOs overlooked (exploitation an issue
between researcher and firm)
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IP service portfolio development in Switzerland (I)
• The case of the Swiss IPI • Development not so much of a national IP strategy, but a common
approach towards SME support services • Baseline
• Existing services, but many not taken up • Little knowledge of customer base • General approach: Do as little as necessary
• SME-IP project • started in 2007/2008 • Three baseline studies
• Quantification of IP use by SMEs • Case studies on 20 SMEs • Policy study on support structures in Switzerland
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IP service portfolio development in Switzerland (II)
• Implementation steps hereafter • Dedicated SME homepage kmu.ige.ch (constantly updated with SME
case studies) • Improved publication for SMEs • Institutionalised collaboration with CTI funding agency (modules for
IP coaching integrated into other offerings) • Helpline refurbished (interconnection between SME services and
helpline) • Search service à assisted patent searches now marketed more
offensively, voucher of CTI can be used for searches • Network of IP experts • Collaboration with journalists to place articles in SME newspapers
(journals)
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IP service portfolio development in Switzerland (III)
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IP strategy development in Ireland
• Baseline • Irish IP performance below average • Identified need to push innovation also through innovative activities • Ratification of EU patent ahead • Four main actors: Enterprise Ireland, Patents Office, Knowledge
Transfer Ireland and DJEI (Ministry) • Some support available for IP, but scattered
• Two studies to start process… • Main coordinating body: Department of Jobs, Enterprise and
Innovation • Baseline study 1: Creation of data on IP use in Ireland (Cambridge
IP, 2014) • Baseline study 2: Policy options study by Technopolis (ongoing)
à Recommendation for a national IP statement (not strategy)
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Conclusions
• IPR is a topic everywhere • The same problems arise, however in different magnitude • IPR skills and awareness is an issue everywhere • Costs viewed in differentiated ways • Holistic approaches to IP are needed • Integration of IPR in other policies is key issue
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Thank you
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