Summary Patents and Innovation

Summary Patents and Innova1on
Objec've of the course
• Understand what Intellectual Property Rights are and what their value is (the purpose of
patents);
• Understand the main requirements for obtaining patent protec'on;
• Be able to find basic informa'on about patents in the European patent database;
• Know about the basic routes of paten'ng and what principles they are based on;
• Understand how patents are enforced against third par'es;
• Understand the principles of how technology developed at the university can be transferred,
how spin-offs are set up and which agreements are to ensure IP is correctly captured

Poll: Do you think patents should not be allowed for pharmaceu'cal products such as vaccines
• Be able to make a more informed answer
• She is biased, she likes patents, but there also nega've sides
• How you use it, is very important


Introduc)on to Innova)on, IP rights patent rights and
patent systems
Innova&ons
What is innova'on?
• Innova'ons are:
– new and original products, services, ideas..,
– which are used in a market or society and
– add ‘value’ to a company and/or have impact on a society
• Examples: oral contracep'ves, television, an'bio'cs, vaccines, mobile phones, computers,
internet, facebook, selfdriving cars, AI, ...

Protec'ng innova'ons
• By gran'ng exclusivity on the market, and thus a return on investment, patent protec'on
rewards creators for innova'ons that are commercially successful
• Society benefits from innova've products and the economic opportuni'es which the
compe''ve advantage creates for the innovators.
• The revenues from these technologies provide for the financing of addi'onal research and
development endeavors.
– We grant exclusivity: we give people the possibility to be the only one on the market,
for a limited of 'me
o so you get a reward if you have developed something, but the patent has to
be published online
o the company gets more money to re-invest à advantage of geWng the
exclusivity on the market
o the exclusivity is only for a short 'me à aXer that you will loose the exclusivity
à more compe'tors
– you have to have innova'on aXer innova'on
• The patent process turns an inven'on into a commercial asset (which can be sold or licensed).
– commercially relevant for the company (commercial asset) à company can put the
drug on the market or they can sell the patent together with the drug (license it out)

, • Intellectual property (IP) assets such as patents can also aYract investors to the business.
– patents can aYract investors à because the product is not directly on the market,
there are some issues (someone else can make exactly the same product)
– if you have a patent, you get exclusivity, you will be more confident to develop the
product
• The informa'on about the inven'on which is made public can inspire future crea'ons, which
may lead to addi'onal patented innova'ons.
– patent will be published (even if the drug is not on the market yet) à someone else
can use this informa'on to adapt the drug, make it beYer…
• The mapping of patent informa'on allows policymakers to see where valuable research and
development is occurring, thus helping to shape policy and regula'on to support innova'on.
– policymakers should know what universi'es, and companies are doing à they can for
example help by seeing where the economy is doing well, which regions need some
extra funding
By gran(ng exclusivity on the market, and thus a return on investment, patent protec(on rewards creators for
innova(ons that are commercially successful. The society benefits from innova(ve products and the economic
opportuni(es which the compe((ve advantage creates for the innovators. An economic opportunity could be
that if a company does well, they will employ more people. The revenues from these technologies provide for
the financing of addi(onal research and development endeavors.
The patent process turns an inven(on into a commercial asset: something that can be used to exclude something
from coming on the market (which can be sold or licensed). Intellectual property (IP) assets such as patents can
also aEract investors to the business. Many (mes, you don't have very much you can show yet without a patent.
If you have a patent, you can get exclusivity. There is a promise there that allows for more investments.
The informa(on about the inven(on can inspire future crea(ons, which may lead to addi(onal patented
innova(ons. If you get a patent granted, you’re excluded from using it un(l you get a license, but others have this
informa(on and can do further research with the known knowledge. It's not automa(c, there is a whole
procedure if you want a patent granted. So there is some risk involved because you do make it public but you're
not sure you have exclusivity.
The mapping of patent informa(on allows policymakers to see where valuable research and development is
occurring, thus helping to shape policy and regula(on to support innova(on. This is used a lot by policy makers
and government leaders to know what sectors are strong in this. It’s also an indicator for a lot of organiza(ons
and governments to determine what's going on.

Is there a need to innovate?
à YES:
• Innova'on is vital to compe''veness in the global economy. Research leads to improved
goods, services or processes for the market.
– the best way to sell your product is to make sure your products is the best
• Studies show that those companies that priori'es innova'on are also those that experience
the highest increase in turnover (they make the highest money). We need beYer products as a
society. There are s'll a lot of diseases that can't be cured so necessary to bring new things on
the market.

Press release by EUIPO (09 Jan ’25)
à Joint EPO/EUIPO study highlights the impact of intellectual property rights on firm performance in
the EU (slide 11)

Study of KULeuven and Idea consult
• IP ac'vity is associated with a 1% to 4% increase in growth in absolute value
– there is a rela'onship between growth and intelectual property

,How has (recent) innova'on affected your life?
• Of major importance in your life
– Internet and mobile applica'ons
– Healthcare solu'ons
– AI
• Smaller impact
– Electronic payment at fes'vals
– Electronic bikes
– Face recogni'on/authen'ca'on

Innova'on is s'mulated by governments
• By investment research and development
• By inves'ng in educa'on
• By providing tax incen'ves
• By crea'ng an environment which facilitates the star'ng up of new companies (and the closing
down of unsuccesful ones)
– One of the reasons for more start-ups in the US: they don’t mind if they go bankrupt.
This is different in the EU, they’re afraid of what happens if they have to close it down
again.
• By suppor'ng networking organiza'ons which support an “ecosystem”
• …

Innova'on at universi'es
• ’Knowledge-based innova'ons’ are not only developed within ‘industry’. Increasingly
innova'ons have their origin in university research
• Public research organiza'ons such as universi'es need to transfer their knowledge and
innova'ons to industry for it to be implemented. It has become clear that they have to transfer
that knowledge to society
• Industry has a need for knowledge and technologies developed at universi'es (or other
companies) to remain compe''ve. It’s difficult to do only research “in house”. There are
research facili'es but if you just keep the research within the company, it’s difficult to keep
innova'ng. It’s good to get different informa'on from different companies for new ideas.
• Exchange is necessary to successfully sustain a ‘knowledge-based economy’.
– industry wants further and further developed things = safer
– University captures that knowledge in the form in patents
• Transfer is necessary from universiteit to industry to succesfully systain a ‘knowledge-based
economy’

IP Rights
Basic principle of IP rights
• Need to reward innovators to s'mulate innova'on
• Need for ‘innovators’ to publish their ‘innova'ons’ - instead of keeping them secret as this
allows further innova'on – patents are published documents
• Patent rights: a right of a patent holder to stop others from commercializing the ‘innova'on’
without permission, in return for which the innova'on is published

Intellectual property rights are essen'al for promo'ng innova'on. They provide a structured way to
reward inventors, encouraging them to share their innova'ons with society instead of keeping them
secret. This open sharing of knowledge fosters further innova'on, as patents are published documents
that provide valuable informa'on for future developments.

, Patents rights: a right of a patent holder to stop others from commercializing the ‘innova'on’ without
permission, in return for which the innova'on is published.




• you can have a product or you can have a process à as a company you want to develop both
– when you develop a product à market à everyone can see it and make the same
– the process is not public à you don’t know if your product will be made with the same
method
• Whenever a new product is successful on the market, it is very likely that compe'tors will
aYempt to make similar or iden'cal products.
• The innovator will probably have invested significantly in developing the new product,
establishing the supply chain for produc'on, running marke'ng campaigns and finding
distributors.
• Compe'tors benefit from these efforts. They have greater market access, a beYer connec'on
with distributors, and access to cheaper primary resources. As a result they are able to offer
their products at a cheaper price.
• Innovators are then under heavy pressure and may be driven out of business, while
compe'tors get a free ride on the back of their crea'vity.
• The IP system is there to help innovators protect their inven'ons, designs, brands, ar's'c
works, and so on. It provides them with ownership over their work and the rights to exclude
compe'tors from the produc'on, import or sale of infringing goods.

• If you don’t take a patent
– If you keep it in house à personal gain for innovator
o Difficult
o Not interes'ng for the rest for the society, but only the innovator
§ But if someone else has the same improvement you cannot do
anything about it
§ Then it is a loss for the innovator
§ Slows down the economy
§ for the economy it is a disadvantage, because they lose money if the
product is made with different procedures = costs money
• Patent and patent is granted
– Innovator rewarded and improvements can be developed by compe'tors à helps
society and good for innovator
– Risk that you don’t get your patent granted
o Compe'tors can offer similar or iden'cal products at a cheaper price à can
s'll benefit economy.