The European Commission, Directorate-General Research & Innovation, attaches particular importance to developing the skills of researchers and innovators in managing intellectual assets. At the EU Knowledge Valorisation Week 2023, it provided free hands-on training (the courses are still available below) and encouraged an exchange of good training practices and programmes among stakeholders.
Investing in education and training is essential to foster efficient intellectual assets management practices throughout the research and innovation community, thereby boosting knowledge valorisation. Researchers and innovators often encounter challenges in identifying the most suitable means to protect their results, collaborating in joint research activities, negotiating with potential partners or approaching new markets. They would benefit from becoming more aware about ways to manage their knowledge and intellectual assets and about intellectual property regimes.
For this reason and supporting the European Year of Skills, the EU Knowledge Valorisation Week 2023 invited outstanding trainers with practical experience from the European Patent Office, the European IP Helpdesk and the EU Intellectual Property Office to provide courses tailored to researchers and open to anyone interested. Watch now:
Research? Think patents - European Patent Office
This session provides general information about patents, explaining what a patent is, its role and relevance to protect and promote innovation, and which are the patentability requirements for a European Patent. This training also includes a real-life case study about how patents, and intellectual property in general, can be used by researchers to their advantage and create value.
Facing challenges: navigating IP in collaborative innovation processes - European IP Helpdesk
Collaborative R&I projects offer great opportunities to leverage external knowledge through joint innovation activities, but they require robust intellectual property management strategies. This session addresses key IP challenges and strategies to manage the complexity of expectations and interests in collaborative innovation.
The unconventional path to protect innovation - the design registration system - EU Intellectual Property Office
Design plays a strategic role in valorising innovative products by offering a valuable complement to other IP rights. Through practical examples, this training provides information on the Community Design system and addresses the scope of protection of a design, the relationship with trademark protection and the advantages deriving from design registration both in physical and digital marketplaces.
Additionally, interesting best practices showcasing education and training opportunities to improve competencies, skills and capacities for successful intellectual assets management in Portugal and Italy were presented at the session on Master chefs in knowledge valorisation: recipes for sharpening knowledge and skills.
Get inspired by more good examples, beyond those presented in the session:
- DINA-ITC: Dynamization and Training on Knowledge Exchange and Transfer, Spain
- Build and Manage an IP Portfolio: Identifying and Evaluating Commercial Potential of Portuguese Higher Education Institutions’ Assets
- Doctoral School Training for Intellectual Asset Management, Belgium
- EATRIS’s innovative training workshop & curriculum