Event review: PATInfo 2015
GLOBALISED MARKETS CHALLENGE INTERNATIONAL IP SYSTEM
Global competition in the IP sector has intensified. To cope with the huge number of patent applications and requests for research, the authorities are hoping for a system of international task-sharing. Vera Münch reports on PATInfo 2015, held at Ilmenau, Germany
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eadlined ‘IP: Kooperation, Wettbewerb, Konfrontation’ (‘cooperation, competition, confrontation’) PATInfo 2015, the German conference on
patent information and industrial property rights, highlighted the increasing pressure on the international patent system while simultaneously presenting solutions such as the worldwide collaboration of patent authorities and new methods for getting the best out of the latest information technologies. In 2014, the German Patent and Trademark Office (DPMA) recorded 65,958 patent applications, the highest number ever, reported vice president Günther Schmitz. In February 2015 the highest monthly number was exceeded again. Heiko Wongel from the European Patent Office (EPO) stated that the European patent with unitary effect (unitary patent) would result in additional register data being added. He could, however, not say when this was going to happen. Wongel said the ratification of the agreements was a political procedure. Regarding the information sources provided by the EPO he informed the audience that the Federated European Patent Register (Federated Register) anticipated last year had already been available online for several weeks as part of the European Patent Register, albeit with a limited scope containing only information from EPO and patent authorities of Luxembourg, Serbia, and Slovenia. Claus Matthes from WIPO cited the Patent Cooperation Treaty (PCT) as an example of a success story. According to Matthes, the PCT is a very successful tool for patent applications; however, there is more to be done in the future. He promoted an international collaboration between the authorities, a collaboration that had already been favoured by both the DPMA and the EPO. ‘Task sharing is an important topic,’ said Matthes. But it appears that the patent
14 Research Information AUGUST/SEPTEMBER 2015
authorities are not yet entirely ready for it, probably also because of their own initiatives such as the Federated Register and the IP5 cooperation. In IP5 the five largest intellectual property offices in the world – the EPO, the Japan Patent Office (JPO), the Korean Intellectual Property Office (KIPO), the State Intellectual Property Office of the People’s Republic of China (SIPO) and the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) – cooperate to improve the efficiency of the examination process for patents worldwide. ‘As we see, there is also a certain competition between the authorities,’ commented Christoph Hoock, head of the PATON Landespatentzentrum Thüringen ‘This is a good thing.’
The globalisation of the market, driven by internet technology, poses huge challenges on the international patent system. The 21 scientific lectures and 20 workshops at
‘Globalisation of the market poses huge challenges on the international patent system’
PATInfo 2015 presented a system on the move that needs technical solutions and proper collaboration. The patent community is making great efforts to achieve this goal. The second trend in the patent information sector is the significant increase of the number of services and tools supporting companies in finding ideas for new inventions and further developments.
A well-established enterprise in the technology transfer market is Invention Store, jointly offered by the members of the German exploitation network ‘Technologie-Allianz’ and the Bundesverband der Deutschen Industrie BDI e.V.. Invention Store provides information on licensable research results from German academic and non-academic
research institutions, explained Sabine Milde of the PATON patent exploitation agency, who is a member of the ‘Technologie-Allianz’ and represents the Thuringian exploitation network in this organisation.
Interested companies can access the latest research results that are available for licensing or for which patents can be sold to enterprises. This information can be searched by keyword and subject area and is available at no cost. At present, the portfolio of the Technologie- Allianz network comprises more than 2,000 market-oriented and already patented key technologies from almost all universities and other academic institutions in Germany. New offers are added each day.
The third trend identified was the approach to automate the workflows on patent and innovation management as much as possible. Several companies and universities are working on this R&D topic. Gaby Kirch- Verfuß, owner of the German consulting company WissensWert pointed out that more and more providers for patent information and patent monitoring operate in the market: ‘It is difficult to keep track of all these products, their functionality and application potential.’ Big Data and powerful analysis tools continuously gain in importance for patent and innovation management. The topic has inspired the subject of PATINFO 2016: ‘Big Data – Chance und Herausforderung’. The conference, which will be conducted in German, will be held from 8 to 10 June in Ilmenau.
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