Intellectual Property issues? Help is at hand!

Knowing how to manage and exploit Intellectual Property (IP) is one of the keys to boosting innovation and competitiveness in Europe. The European IPR Helpdesk is funded by the European Commission to increase awareness on IP, and support SMEs involved in transnational partnership agreements and EU-funded project beneficiaries in their IP related issues through a range of free-of-charge services including a Helpline, training events and publications.

The European IPR Helpdesk is a service initiative funded by the European Commission offering information, individual support and training in the field of Intellectual Property (IP). The service is targeted at researchers and European small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) participating in EU-funded collaborative research projects. In addition it addresses SMEs involved in international business and technology transfer processes.

Whether you need personal support on a specific IP issue, want to be informed about the latest developments in the world of IP and Innovation in Europe, or are interested in a training session on IP – the European IPR Helpdesk is the right partner to turn to.

IPR Services
At a glance, the European IPR Helpdesk provides the following services – and all of them are offered free of charge:

• Helpline: Register with the European IPR Helpdesk website, or get in touch via phone or fax to receive support on your specific IP issue from a team of experienced legal specialists within no more than three working days.
• Newsletter & Bulletin: Subscribe to the European IPR Helpdesk email newsletter and Bulletin to keep track on latest developments in the field of IP
• Online Library: Download fact sheets, case studies, guides and informative materials from an extensive online library.
• Training & Events: Sign up to regular free IP webinars, or meet the IPR Helpdesk team at training events and conferences.

Want to know more about the EU IPR Helpdesk? Please visit the IPR Helpdesk website and get in touch!

SSERR facilitates move from Research to Business

A new Support Services for Exploitation of Research Results (SSERR) initiative for completed and ongoing research projects in the field of energy has been launched by the European Commission. SSERR offers on-demand services to FP7 and Horizon 2020 energy projects to help maximise their value added and impact and to support and advise project partners in the exploitation of results.

Project partners can request support for project risk analysis, exploitation strategy seminars, business plan development, getting assistance for patenting and organising brokerage events, as well as ad hoc assistance. SSERR’s aim is to bridge the gap between research and business.

The aim of the service is to support exploitation of research results. This might result in the creation of a product, process or service; it might mean the establishment of new standards; or the delivery of new training courses or curricula.  Appropriate exploitation leads to innovation, new business, jobs and growth. Exploitation is a crucial element of EU research programmes and SSERR is here to help!

SusChem also supports its stakeholders to exploit the results of SusChem inspired projects through our brokerage events that help consortia building for Commission calls, our support to SMEs through SME workshops and our  Guide to Innovation Funding for SMEs in Europe and our dedication to help bridge the ‘innovation valley of death’ in general and for Key Enabling Technologies in particular.

Who and what of SSERR
There are many reasons to contact SSERR:

• If you have your potentially exploitable results but don’t know how to protect them
• If you need to develop a viable plan for the exploitation and dissemination the research results
• If you want to develop a business plan but don’t know all the items to be considered
• If you are you looking for businesses and investors

SSERR can provide the answers you need using a series of tailored, on demand, free services including:

• Project Risk Analysis to identify the risks and potential obstacles to the future exploitation of project results
• Exploitation Strategy Seminars to brainstorm on key results, and how to address the risks and obstacles associated with exploitation
• Business Plan Development service to assist project partners in commercialisation of results
• Assistance for Patenting and the protection of intellectual property rights
• Brokerage Events to allow projects to present their exploitable results to key investment actors

SSERR services can be accessed at any time during a project life cycle, even after the project has been completed. All that is required is an email from the Project Coordinator to RTD-ENERGY-SSERR@ec.europa.eu requesting SSERR assistance. The Project Coordinator and relevant Commission department then agree on the services and the Commission proposes a consultant who will deliver the service(s). The details are agreed between the Project Coordinator and the consultant under a confidentiality agreement. And all for free!

More information
For further information download the initiative's leaflet, visit the SSERR website, or contact the Commission via email.

ProBIO event: Exploitation strategies for Bioeconomy Research

On 7 June representatives of Knowledge Based BioEconomy (KBBE) research and innovation projects are being invited to meet and discuss ‘Exploitation strategies for Bioeconomy Research proposals’ at an event organised by ProBIO, a Horizon 2020 project that aims to support and facilitate the exploitation of research project outcomes. The event will take place at the Stanhope Hotel in Brussels.

Participants will receive guidance on how to produce successful research proposals with a strong exploitation strategy element. The message from recent interactions between SusChem and European Commission representatives has reemphasised that clear exploitation strategies and an understanding of the potential market impact of research proposals is a vital element for success in Horizon 2020 funding.

Emma Holtz from SP Technical Research Institute in Sweden is the ProBIO team member in charge of providing tailored support for further research and innovation activities and also the event organiser.

“When coaching KBBE projects for ProBIO, we have observed how much uncertainty there is when it comes to market exploitation: many researchers are not aware of the potentials their achievements have to become products for the market or to serve as the starting point for new research,” says Emma.

“Too often, there is a lack of clarity as to the exploitation element of a research proposal, which hampers a proposal’s chances of success. With this clustering event we aim at addressing this area of uncertainty, by giving participants the tools (and sometimes the tips) which help them in developing a successful proposal. At our event, we will be showing bioeconomy projects how to access research funding, by giving them an overview on existing opportunities and financing schemes across the EU and national programmes.”

Keynotes and clustering
Among keynote speakers participating in the event, Alexandros Theodoridis from the BioHorizon project will present ‘Bio National Contact Points’ support to improve the quality of research project proposals’ as well as give hints on how to put together a good consortium.

Christine Bunthof from the Platform2 project will be introducing the platform of bioeconomy ERA-NET actions. Furthermore, exploitation experts at ProBIO will show the participants how to strengthen their project‘s exploitation potential in the early phase of application development by considering the market and potential end users, Intellectual Property Rights (IPR) as well as their choice of business model.

The meeting will also meant to act as a “clustering” event, as it will provide the opportunity for researchers across the bioeconomy area to meet up and discuss proposal writing in a neutral forum.

Participation is open to all project result owners from previous KBBE projects (FP7, Horizon 2020 etc) as well as other invited researchers planning to develop (or taking part in) competitive research project proposals with strong exploitation strategies.

For more information about the event and registration, visit the ProBIO website or contact Emma Holtz.

EU companies to boost innovation investments

The latest European Commission survey of EU R&D Investment Business Trends published on 10 August shows that the top R&D investing companies based in Europe expect their global research and development (R&D) investments to grow by 5% annually from 2011 to 2013.

The results published in the sixth EU Survey on R&D Investment Business Trends is more than double last year's expectations, and represents a significant upturn from the 2.6% R&D cuts in investment implemented by these companies during 2009. The survey also revealed that an average of 27% of the annual sales of the companies analysed in the report come from innovative products introduced in the past three years. A clear indication of the value of innovation to commercial success and to job creation.

"The survey provides welcome positive economic news and grounds for cautious medium-term optimism, given that business R&D is a key driver of sustainable growth and jobs. But if we are to achieve our Europe 2020 targets, including getting R&D investment in the EU up to 3% of GDP, we will need these forecast investments for 2011-13 to be delivered in practice,” commented Máire Geoghegan-Quinn, Commissioner for Research, Innovation and Science. “We will also need further increases in the rate of growth of private R&D investment in subsequent years, both by the big companies covered in this survey and by SMEs. And we will need to deliver an Innovation Union in Europe so that investing in R&D here is more attractive than doing so elsewhere."

Investment in EU and globally
Companies surveyed expect their R&D investment inside the EU to grow 3% a year over the next three years. But they expect the growth in their R&D investment in other world regions to be higher: in particular China (25%) and Japan (17%). The surveyed companies carry out a quarter of their research outside the EU, in particular in the US and Canada.

This trend shows that EU-based companies want to benefit from the growth in emerging economies while still retaining a strong overall focus on the EU.

In response to questions on the key factors that have a positive effect on innovation, the main factors identified were: the availability of qualified personnel and of public support such as grants and fiscal incentives. Collaboration with other entities, such as higher education institutions, was also seen as important.

Factors perceived as negative for all sectors were enforcement costs of Intellectual Property Rights (IPR) and the time needed to obtain IPR protection. This again highlights the critical importance of fostering an innovation-friendly IPR regime in Europe -in particular the proposed unitary EU patent.

Survey background:
The EU Survey on R&D Investment Business Trends was carried out by the Commission’s Joint Research Centre’s Institute for Prospective Technology Studies based in Sevilla, Spain. The survey results are based on 205 responses of mainly larger companies from the 1000 EU-based companies in the 2010 EU Industrial R&D Investment Scoreboard. Taken together, these 205 companies are responsible for R&D investment worth almost €40 billion, constituting around 30% of the total R&D investment by the 1000 EU Scoreboard companies, which is a significant share of European business investment in R&D.