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 2
Part I IP AND INNOVATION IN AUSTRIA 3
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) 4
IP support in Austria At federal level Austrian Patent Office aws...plus support provided at regional level Different in every region 5
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 6
Support measures of the aws (I) IP.Consulting IP.Financing Grants for patent applications outside the EPC IP.Exploitation IP.Enforcement Patent commercialization for private investors and SME`s Grants & supports to enforce Austrian IPR in emerging key markets EU Market Projects research Market research for technology oriented SME and High-Tech-Start Ups Source: aws 2013 7
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) 8
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 9
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 interuniversity 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 10
Part II IP STRATEGY DEVELOPMENT 11
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 12
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 Source: Internal presentation of bmwfw/bmvit 13
Overarching Goals Increase of innovation performance Becoming an innovation leader Source: Internal presentation of bmwfw/bmvit 14
The process bmwfw Stakeholder Steering group Core team bmvit Reflexion group WG1 WG2 WG3 Source: Internal presentation of bmwfw/bmvit 15
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 Source: Internal presentation of bmwfw/bmvit 16
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 Source: Internal presentation of bmwfw/bmvit 17
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 Source: Internal presentation of bmwfw/bmvit 19
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 20
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 21
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) 22
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 23
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) 24
IP service portfolio development in Switzerland (III) 25
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) 26
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 27
Thank you alfred.radauer@technopolis-group.com technopolis group has offices in Amsterdam, Brighton, Brussels, Frankfurt/Main, Paris, Stockholm, Tallinn and Vienna 28