Activities focus on commercialization, innovation and transfer. The first session is dedicated to the new patent system in Europe.
Throughout 2024, I-CERCA will develop activities to promote and communicate the transfer of knowledge within the CERCA System. These activities are related to the Strategic Plan for Innovation and Knowledge Transfer promoted by the Research and Universities Ministry through the Directorate General of Transfer and Knowledge Society.
A fundamental part of the program is based in the training and qualification of the personnel who work at the transfer units of the CERCA centres. This group, set up as a Transfer Community, will meet every month to exchange experiences, success stories and best practices.
First session was led by Enric Carbonell, European patent agent and partner in the Barcelona office of ABG Intellectual Property with whom I-CERCA has signed a collaboration agreement. ABG IP is a leading European firm in industrial property and will be preparing a series of informative pills to promote the use of patents and trademarks.
Because of recent changes in the patent system in Europe, it is possible to request that European patents have a unitary effect after being granted; therefore, legal protection of inventions is valid through a single procedure in the 17 member states of the EU.
Alexandra Romero, from The Collider program of Mobile World Capital Barcelona, also participated in the session. She focused on the development of the program linked to the Venture Building of the European Innovation Council (EIC in its English acronym) and its need for investment capital.
Anabel Sanz, head of the technology and business development office of the Centre for Genomic Regulation (CRG), explained the internal organization and the challenges faced by her unit.
New unitary patent System
Until its implementation, this procedure could only be carried out country by country in those states in which the holder desired to be patented. In fact, the procedure is still the most convenient in some cases and it is the only option for a European patent to be valid in Spain, which remains outside the system. Enric Carbonell pointed out that Spain is not part of the unitary patent, but this doesn’t prevent Catalan innovative organizations from opting for it.
The new patent system means lower costs, less paperwork and reduced administrative burden for innovators but a series of risks and conditions must also be taken into account. In the training session, Enric Carbonell explained the positive aspects and the drawbacks, offering a strategic vision for the future of organizations’ projects.
