- Email: [email protected]
New information dissemination structures
World Patent Information 21 (1999) 241±244
www.elsevier.com/locate/worpatin
New information dissemination structures Andreas Kurt * Swiss Federal Institute for Intellectual Property, Division of Patents, Einsteinstrasse 2, CH-3003 Bern, Switzerland
Abstract Innovation is being encouraged as never before; technology transfer and exploitation of knowledge are the catchphrases of the moment. The Institute is well placed to take an active role in this situation, since responsibilities have not yet been ocially decided. In order to take such a role, the Institute needs new products to bridge the gap between sovereign and market-oriented services and to aid the assessment of the patentability of inventions; it also needs a new information infrastructure with external partners, leading to more intensive use of property rights systems and the information they contain, particularly in universities and colleges but also in industry. This represents a shift from mere industrial property law information to added-value services. The purpose of an evaluation project is to create an information dissemination system based on market-oriented service products; where appropriate, such a system will also encourage the use of industrial property rights, both in industry and in colleges and universities, by the involvement of suitable external partners. To this end the existing system of documentation oces, which no longer meets the needs of customers in Switzerland today, must be replaced by an electronic information dissemination system using the Internet; in addition there will be a physical network of external providers who are, for the present, to oer two added-value products to interested customers from industry and research. Important components of this project are the development and implementation of these new products and the examination of suitable forms of contract for mutually pro®table co-operation with external providers (mainly from (specialised) colleges and universities), but also from industries and SMEs. Ó 2000 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved. Zusammenfassung Die Innovationsf orderer boomen, Technologietransfer und Wissensverwertung sind aktuelle Schlagworte. des Institut kann aufgrund seiner Eigenschaften in dieser Szene, in der die Kompetenzen zwischen den Teilnehmern noch nicht geregelt sind, mitspielen. Dazu braucht es neue Produkte, welche die Br ucke zwischen hoheitlichen und freien Dienstleistungen schlagen und in die Richtung der Beurteilung von Er®ndungen bez uglich ihrer Patentierbarkeit geht, sowie eine neue Informations-Infrastruktur mit externen Partnern, die insbesondere im Hochschulbereich, aber auch in der Industrie zu einer intensiveren Nutzung der Schuber das Immateritzrechtssysteme und der darin enthaltenen Information f uhrt. Damit verschiebt sich die blosse Auskunft u alg uterrecht in den Bereich der Added-values-Dienstleistungen. Das Ziel eines Evaluierungs-Projektes ist es, ein auf marktorientierte Dienstleistungsprodukte gest utztes System der Informationsverbreitung aufzubauen, welches-wo sinnvoll-auch durch den Einbezug geeigneter externer Partner die Nutzung der immateriellen Schutzrechte sowohl in der Industrie als auch an den Hochschulen f ordert. Dazu muss das bisherige System der Dokumentationsstellen welches modernen Kundenbed urfnissen in der Schweiz nicht mehr gerecht wird, abgel ost werden. An seiner Stelle entsteht ein System der elekt-onischen Verbreitung von Information via Internet, erg anzt durch ein physisches Netz von zwei bis vier Infocenters mit eigenem/fremden Personal, welche widerum erg anzt werden durch ein System von eigenen Informationsbeauftragten und externen Vermittlern, welche vorderhand zwei Added-value-Produkte interessierten Kunden aus Industrie und Forschung anbieten sollen. Wesentliche Bestandteile dieses Projektes sind die Entwickung und Umsetzung solcher neuer Produkte sowie die Pr ufung geeigneter Vertragsformen f ur die beiderseits pro®table Zusammenarbeit mit externen Vermittlern (v.a. aus dem (Fach-) Hochschulbereich). Ó 2000 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved. Resume Les promoteurs de l'innovation ont le vent en poupe, les transferts de technologies et la valorisation des connaissances sont des mots-cles a la mode. Fort de ses qualites dans ce contexte, dans lequel les competences entre les intervenants ne sont pas encore reglementees, l'Instiut peut jouer un r^ ole. Pour ce faire, il a besoin de nouveaux produits qui jettent un pont entre les prestatione de services de l'administration publique et les prestations gratuites et qui soit axe sur l'evaluation de la brevetabilite des inventions, et *
Head, Division of Patents.
0172-2190/00/$ - see front matter Ó 2000 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved. PII: S 0 1 7 2 - 2 1 9 0 ( 0 0 ) 0 0 0 0 5 - 3
242
A. Kurt / World Patent Information 21 (1999) 241±244
d'une nouvelle infrastructure de l'information avec des partenaires exterieurs qui mene, notamment dans le domaine universitaire mais egalement dans l'industrie, a une utilisation plus poussee des systemes de droits de protection et de l'information qu'ils contiennent. Le simple renseignement sur le droit incorporel se deplace ainsi en direction du domaine des services a valeur ajoutee. Le but d'un project d'evaluation consiste a elaborer un systeme de diusion de l'information base sur des services repondant aux besoins du marche et qui favorisent l'utilisation des droits de propriete immateriels, tant dans l'industrie qu' a l'universite, en faisant notamment appel a des partenaires exterieurs quali®es lorsque leur concours est utile. A cette ®n, l'actuel systeme des services de documentation, qui ne repond plus aux besoins modernes de la clientele en Suisse, doit ^etre remplace. Il doit faire place a un systeme de diusion electronique de l'information par Internet, complete par un reseau physique de deux a quatre Infocentres disposant de leur propre personnel ou de personnel sous contrat, completes a leur tour par un systeme de delegues a l'information internes et de courtiers exteriurs, charges en premier lieu de proposer deux produits a valeur ajoutee a la clientele interessee des secteurs de l'industrie et da la recherche. L'elaboration et la realisation de ces nouveaux produits, ainsi que l'etude des formes contractuelles appropriees pur une cooperation pro®table aux deux parties avec des intermediaires exterieurs (issus entre autres du monde universitaire) sont les principales composantes de ce projet. Ó 2000 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.
1. Introduction When, in my paper at the last PATLIB in Alicante [1], I proposed that we rethink the function of patent information centres, I reaped some harsh criticism, among other things. At that time, as Head of Marketing at the Swiss Federal Institute for Intellectual Property, I suggested that services either be adapted to suit the changed needs of SMEs, or that eorts to expand the information centres be halted since, in their traditional form, the latter were no longer able to meet the industry's requirements in the information procurement area. We have now taken the logical step in Switzerland, and have cancelled our contracts with our outside agencies as of mid-1999. The aim of this paper as the Head of the Institute's Patents Division is not to defend this decision and to call upon others to do the same. I am well aware of the fact that dierent framework conditions exist in many of the other countries represented here today. The aim of my paper is, rather, to demonstrate how we intend to ®ll the resultant gap and, in doing so, furnish you with concrete pointers on how to avoid following our example in the patent information centres. 2. Starting position When a situation arises in which radical, new decisions need to be taken, it also brings with it an opportunity to reconsider what one's real objectives are and what they are meant to achieve. Our core competences lie, on the one hand, in an area which is under the sovereignty of the state ± the examination and granting of patents ± and, on the other, in an independent area, that of technological information. With regard to national patents we, like other European countries, are faced with the problem of a massive decline in national patent applications in favour of European patents. In the light of the situation which can be expected to develop in Europe over the next few de-
cades, it is not at all unrealistic to consider that revenues accruing from patents might, some day, diminish drastically. On the other hand, we also have at our disposal the area of technological and patent information, in which both the internal product development potential and the market potential are very much under-exploited and which, if need be, could provide us with a possibility of osetting the loss in income in the national sector mentioned above. Since competition is also beginning to be felt in the ®eld of technological and patent information, the national oces (and where necessary the information centres) must create services which meet ± indeed anticipate ± the needs of domestic industry, as well as those of the higher education institutions, and ensure that these services are not only available but are actively marketed. These considerations led the Institute for Intellectual Property to opt for a two-pronged approach. On the one hand, the decision to connect the sovereign and the independent services with one another and, on the other, that of assuming the role of a turntable linking the services of other existing and prospective providers in the intellectual property area. To this end, we set up a project last year which identi®es three focal points for the future work of our Patents Division: · expansion of the virtual dissemination of information, from passive marketing on our homepage to interactive electronic commerce (see Dr Bock's paper also in this issue [2]); · creation of service interfaces at universities and technological colleges; · creation of a vertical broker network for SMEs, as well as key account management for major customers. Similarly, within the framework of this project, we plan to group our services into packages which are tailored to the demands of individual customer groups.
A. Kurt / World Patent Information 21 (1999) 241±244
3. Virtual infocentre If we want to reach the stressed-out manager of an SME, we must endeavour to deliver the information directly to the individual's computer desktop. This idea is as old as the ®rst Internet homepage. However, it is still insucient since the information alone is not of much use to the customer when he is dealing with such highly complex matters as a patent application or a prior-art search. What we would like to create, therefore, is an interactive platform for our customers by means of which they can enter into contact with our patent experts using interactive tools. This will enable them to process a search question directly on the screen, for example, just as if both parties in the discussion were sitting together at the same table. Our information department, directed by Dr Christian Bock is putting forward dierent projects for electronic applications, electronic examination, electronic publication, electronic information, electronic ®le inspection, and electronic registration transactions. In addition to these, there are a number of possible services which do not necessarily have to be provided by a patent oce, but in the case of which such an oce, as a result of its position of trust, would be the most appropriate provider. What comes to mind in this context are, in particular, services such as: · an exchange for persons willing to grant a licence where holders of a property right can declare their willingness to grant licences, and · evaluation of property rights, combined with market data about companies and products. This virtualisation is accompanied by an information desk staed by well-trained personnel who, with the aid of electronic reply databases, are in a position to respond to the greater part of the incoming calls and mail themselves ± a task which most of the patent information centres already perform. Also in the pipeline is a marketing information system which permits us to identify the customer calling and to bring up on the screen, while the caller is on the line, information such as when the last contact was made, with whom, and which member of sta is currently in possession of the speci®c up-to-date ®le. This means that we are also improving and strengthening our personal contact with our customers despite the virtual environment.
4. Intellectual property and the universities When I speak of universities in this context, I also mean the Swiss technical colleges and specialised institutions of higher learning. I am sure you are familiar with the problem. It is not a professor's aim to make
243
money by marketing the results of his research, but to expand the existing knowledge in the area in question and to publish as quickly and reliably as possible. In such an environment, it is an uphill struggle for awareness about patents and licences to gain any sort of foothold. In recent times, slogans such as ``technology transfer'' and ``knowledge management'' have had visible repercussions. One overview of the technology transfer centres at Swiss universities, however, has produced some sobering results. Most of these centres are under-staed and under-resourced and are far from being able to gain access to the research projects of the various institutes in order to do educational work there at the appropriate time. Where does the Institute for Intellectual Property ®t in here? Not all of the technology transfer centres at the universities enjoy the same level of knowledge about intellectual property. Working closely with the universities, those responsible for the education system in Switzerland, and patent agents, we oer intensive interactive courses with the aim of improving the level of knowledge and attaining a similar level everywhere. Similarly, the university technology transfer centres need us to use our position as an instigator to assist them in drawing up manuals which can be passed on to the relevant professors. We subsequently oer the technology transfer centres individual coaching measures which are also provided via the virtual infocentre. As the next step, we are also training assistants at the various higher education institutions. Through their greater awareness of the issues involved, they will be able at an early stage in internal research projects to obtain clari®cation on, for example, the state of the art. At this juncture, I must say a few words about the service packages I mentioned before. The aim is not to sell patents. The patent itself is simply embedded in service packages upstream (1) and downstream (2) of the national patent application. The aim of Package (1) is to oer the researcher a decision tree which provides the basis at every milestone for deciding how to proceed next. It also indicates the stage at which patent agents or market researchers should be involved. If the innovative and creative activity in question leads to a national patent, we oer, in the form of Package (2), further assistance in the priority year in deciding whether to extend the territorial scope of protection. We oer to grant the national patent in a pilot phase within a two-month period and receive the international-type search from the European Patent Oce within the customary, practicable time limit. Supported by research into potential licensees and detailed documentation regarding international procedures, this service package places the technology transfer centres in a better position to make optimal use
244
A. Kurt / World Patent Information 21 (1999) 241±244
of the brief priority year and to arrive at an appropriate strategy in conjunction with their patent agents. If, at a speci®c point on the decision tree, it is advisable to interrupt the search activity, we still bill the client for our fees; after all, in such a case, we will have helped save further unnecessary investment.
with the help of suitable mediators, to negotiate special ``vertical'' co-operation contracts which envisage a commission on turnover when services are rendered in the patent information area. Products such as competition analyses and trend analyses for this target group are currently in the ®nal stages of development.
5. Vertical broker network for SMEs
6. Conclusion
Whereas the ®rst successful steps have already been taken in the higher education sector, in the present case I can speak, for the time being, only of visions and plans. Nevertheless, their implementation is scheduled to begin this year (1999) so that the ®rst results will be available in time for PATLIB 2000. As is the case with the higher education institutions, in that of industrial research portfolios as well we often arrive too late. You are well aware of the problem and you must be all too familiar with the estimated numbers of duplicate developments. Naturally, there is a general paucity of knowledge about the services which we all oer. However, there is also a problem of a lack of trust, an unwillingness to make an information specialist from the patent oce privy to the deep secrets buried in an enterprise's soul. However, every enterprise does have someone it trusts. Heads of ®rms who are aware of the usefulness of property rights have for many years been relying on patent agents with whom they can discuss new projects. Most company heads have a business consultant or a trustee whom they can trust. However, these persons are frequently unfamiliar with intellectual property issues. Our vision is to instil greater awareness of these matters into these advisers as well. We shall be launching a workshop oensive this year, the aim of which is to equip business consultants and trustees with a basic knowledge of patent, trade mark and design protection so that they are able to take a critical look at research ideas in time, seek clari®cation and involve both patent agents and the Institute for Intellectual Property at the right moment. Further along the line, it will be possible,
The ideas which I have described allow us to co-ordinate our various external and internal tasks. The Institute is able to ful®l its economic mandate ± that of disseminating information on industrial property rights ± by virtualising information, as well as taking the plunge in the direction of e-commerce. Our activities in the higher education and industrial sectors are contributing to a reduction in the number of misdirected investments and to an increase in the use of property rights. All of our activities are consistent in their reliance on a well-developed broker network which promotes demand for the services of patent agents, business consultants, industrial designers and creative innovators. In pursuing this path, the Institute for Intellectual Property is laying the building blocks of a new future. We are remaining faithful to our core activities and building up the independent service sector, at the same time as provisionally strengthening the national patent by embedding it in customised service packages and, ®nally, we are emancipating ourselves from many of the selling activities with which so many national oces and patent information centres are currently wrestling. References [1] Kurt A. Swiss Federal institute for intellectual property: new image-newclients. The future of regional documentation and central information centres in gaining and retaining clients. World Patent Information 1999;21(1):13. [2] Bock C. The need for trust in electronic commerce in intellectual property. World Patent Information 2000;21(4):237.
www.elsevier.com/locate/worpatin
New information dissemination structures Andreas Kurt * Swiss Federal Institute for Intellectual Property, Division of Patents, Einsteinstrasse 2, CH-3003 Bern, Switzerland
Abstract Innovation is being encouraged as never before; technology transfer and exploitation of knowledge are the catchphrases of the moment. The Institute is well placed to take an active role in this situation, since responsibilities have not yet been ocially decided. In order to take such a role, the Institute needs new products to bridge the gap between sovereign and market-oriented services and to aid the assessment of the patentability of inventions; it also needs a new information infrastructure with external partners, leading to more intensive use of property rights systems and the information they contain, particularly in universities and colleges but also in industry. This represents a shift from mere industrial property law information to added-value services. The purpose of an evaluation project is to create an information dissemination system based on market-oriented service products; where appropriate, such a system will also encourage the use of industrial property rights, both in industry and in colleges and universities, by the involvement of suitable external partners. To this end the existing system of documentation oces, which no longer meets the needs of customers in Switzerland today, must be replaced by an electronic information dissemination system using the Internet; in addition there will be a physical network of external providers who are, for the present, to oer two added-value products to interested customers from industry and research. Important components of this project are the development and implementation of these new products and the examination of suitable forms of contract for mutually pro®table co-operation with external providers (mainly from (specialised) colleges and universities), but also from industries and SMEs. Ó 2000 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved. Zusammenfassung Die Innovationsf orderer boomen, Technologietransfer und Wissensverwertung sind aktuelle Schlagworte. des Institut kann aufgrund seiner Eigenschaften in dieser Szene, in der die Kompetenzen zwischen den Teilnehmern noch nicht geregelt sind, mitspielen. Dazu braucht es neue Produkte, welche die Br ucke zwischen hoheitlichen und freien Dienstleistungen schlagen und in die Richtung der Beurteilung von Er®ndungen bez uglich ihrer Patentierbarkeit geht, sowie eine neue Informations-Infrastruktur mit externen Partnern, die insbesondere im Hochschulbereich, aber auch in der Industrie zu einer intensiveren Nutzung der Schuber das Immateritzrechtssysteme und der darin enthaltenen Information f uhrt. Damit verschiebt sich die blosse Auskunft u alg uterrecht in den Bereich der Added-values-Dienstleistungen. Das Ziel eines Evaluierungs-Projektes ist es, ein auf marktorientierte Dienstleistungsprodukte gest utztes System der Informationsverbreitung aufzubauen, welches-wo sinnvoll-auch durch den Einbezug geeigneter externer Partner die Nutzung der immateriellen Schutzrechte sowohl in der Industrie als auch an den Hochschulen f ordert. Dazu muss das bisherige System der Dokumentationsstellen welches modernen Kundenbed urfnissen in der Schweiz nicht mehr gerecht wird, abgel ost werden. An seiner Stelle entsteht ein System der elekt-onischen Verbreitung von Information via Internet, erg anzt durch ein physisches Netz von zwei bis vier Infocenters mit eigenem/fremden Personal, welche widerum erg anzt werden durch ein System von eigenen Informationsbeauftragten und externen Vermittlern, welche vorderhand zwei Added-value-Produkte interessierten Kunden aus Industrie und Forschung anbieten sollen. Wesentliche Bestandteile dieses Projektes sind die Entwickung und Umsetzung solcher neuer Produkte sowie die Pr ufung geeigneter Vertragsformen f ur die beiderseits pro®table Zusammenarbeit mit externen Vermittlern (v.a. aus dem (Fach-) Hochschulbereich). Ó 2000 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved. Resume Les promoteurs de l'innovation ont le vent en poupe, les transferts de technologies et la valorisation des connaissances sont des mots-cles a la mode. Fort de ses qualites dans ce contexte, dans lequel les competences entre les intervenants ne sont pas encore reglementees, l'Instiut peut jouer un r^ ole. Pour ce faire, il a besoin de nouveaux produits qui jettent un pont entre les prestatione de services de l'administration publique et les prestations gratuites et qui soit axe sur l'evaluation de la brevetabilite des inventions, et *
Head, Division of Patents.
0172-2190/00/$ - see front matter Ó 2000 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved. PII: S 0 1 7 2 - 2 1 9 0 ( 0 0 ) 0 0 0 0 5 - 3
242
A. Kurt / World Patent Information 21 (1999) 241±244
d'une nouvelle infrastructure de l'information avec des partenaires exterieurs qui mene, notamment dans le domaine universitaire mais egalement dans l'industrie, a une utilisation plus poussee des systemes de droits de protection et de l'information qu'ils contiennent. Le simple renseignement sur le droit incorporel se deplace ainsi en direction du domaine des services a valeur ajoutee. Le but d'un project d'evaluation consiste a elaborer un systeme de diusion de l'information base sur des services repondant aux besoins du marche et qui favorisent l'utilisation des droits de propriete immateriels, tant dans l'industrie qu' a l'universite, en faisant notamment appel a des partenaires exterieurs quali®es lorsque leur concours est utile. A cette ®n, l'actuel systeme des services de documentation, qui ne repond plus aux besoins modernes de la clientele en Suisse, doit ^etre remplace. Il doit faire place a un systeme de diusion electronique de l'information par Internet, complete par un reseau physique de deux a quatre Infocentres disposant de leur propre personnel ou de personnel sous contrat, completes a leur tour par un systeme de delegues a l'information internes et de courtiers exteriurs, charges en premier lieu de proposer deux produits a valeur ajoutee a la clientele interessee des secteurs de l'industrie et da la recherche. L'elaboration et la realisation de ces nouveaux produits, ainsi que l'etude des formes contractuelles appropriees pur une cooperation pro®table aux deux parties avec des intermediaires exterieurs (issus entre autres du monde universitaire) sont les principales composantes de ce projet. Ó 2000 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.
1. Introduction When, in my paper at the last PATLIB in Alicante [1], I proposed that we rethink the function of patent information centres, I reaped some harsh criticism, among other things. At that time, as Head of Marketing at the Swiss Federal Institute for Intellectual Property, I suggested that services either be adapted to suit the changed needs of SMEs, or that eorts to expand the information centres be halted since, in their traditional form, the latter were no longer able to meet the industry's requirements in the information procurement area. We have now taken the logical step in Switzerland, and have cancelled our contracts with our outside agencies as of mid-1999. The aim of this paper as the Head of the Institute's Patents Division is not to defend this decision and to call upon others to do the same. I am well aware of the fact that dierent framework conditions exist in many of the other countries represented here today. The aim of my paper is, rather, to demonstrate how we intend to ®ll the resultant gap and, in doing so, furnish you with concrete pointers on how to avoid following our example in the patent information centres. 2. Starting position When a situation arises in which radical, new decisions need to be taken, it also brings with it an opportunity to reconsider what one's real objectives are and what they are meant to achieve. Our core competences lie, on the one hand, in an area which is under the sovereignty of the state ± the examination and granting of patents ± and, on the other, in an independent area, that of technological information. With regard to national patents we, like other European countries, are faced with the problem of a massive decline in national patent applications in favour of European patents. In the light of the situation which can be expected to develop in Europe over the next few de-
cades, it is not at all unrealistic to consider that revenues accruing from patents might, some day, diminish drastically. On the other hand, we also have at our disposal the area of technological and patent information, in which both the internal product development potential and the market potential are very much under-exploited and which, if need be, could provide us with a possibility of osetting the loss in income in the national sector mentioned above. Since competition is also beginning to be felt in the ®eld of technological and patent information, the national oces (and where necessary the information centres) must create services which meet ± indeed anticipate ± the needs of domestic industry, as well as those of the higher education institutions, and ensure that these services are not only available but are actively marketed. These considerations led the Institute for Intellectual Property to opt for a two-pronged approach. On the one hand, the decision to connect the sovereign and the independent services with one another and, on the other, that of assuming the role of a turntable linking the services of other existing and prospective providers in the intellectual property area. To this end, we set up a project last year which identi®es three focal points for the future work of our Patents Division: · expansion of the virtual dissemination of information, from passive marketing on our homepage to interactive electronic commerce (see Dr Bock's paper also in this issue [2]); · creation of service interfaces at universities and technological colleges; · creation of a vertical broker network for SMEs, as well as key account management for major customers. Similarly, within the framework of this project, we plan to group our services into packages which are tailored to the demands of individual customer groups.
A. Kurt / World Patent Information 21 (1999) 241±244
3. Virtual infocentre If we want to reach the stressed-out manager of an SME, we must endeavour to deliver the information directly to the individual's computer desktop. This idea is as old as the ®rst Internet homepage. However, it is still insucient since the information alone is not of much use to the customer when he is dealing with such highly complex matters as a patent application or a prior-art search. What we would like to create, therefore, is an interactive platform for our customers by means of which they can enter into contact with our patent experts using interactive tools. This will enable them to process a search question directly on the screen, for example, just as if both parties in the discussion were sitting together at the same table. Our information department, directed by Dr Christian Bock is putting forward dierent projects for electronic applications, electronic examination, electronic publication, electronic information, electronic ®le inspection, and electronic registration transactions. In addition to these, there are a number of possible services which do not necessarily have to be provided by a patent oce, but in the case of which such an oce, as a result of its position of trust, would be the most appropriate provider. What comes to mind in this context are, in particular, services such as: · an exchange for persons willing to grant a licence where holders of a property right can declare their willingness to grant licences, and · evaluation of property rights, combined with market data about companies and products. This virtualisation is accompanied by an information desk staed by well-trained personnel who, with the aid of electronic reply databases, are in a position to respond to the greater part of the incoming calls and mail themselves ± a task which most of the patent information centres already perform. Also in the pipeline is a marketing information system which permits us to identify the customer calling and to bring up on the screen, while the caller is on the line, information such as when the last contact was made, with whom, and which member of sta is currently in possession of the speci®c up-to-date ®le. This means that we are also improving and strengthening our personal contact with our customers despite the virtual environment.
4. Intellectual property and the universities When I speak of universities in this context, I also mean the Swiss technical colleges and specialised institutions of higher learning. I am sure you are familiar with the problem. It is not a professor's aim to make
243
money by marketing the results of his research, but to expand the existing knowledge in the area in question and to publish as quickly and reliably as possible. In such an environment, it is an uphill struggle for awareness about patents and licences to gain any sort of foothold. In recent times, slogans such as ``technology transfer'' and ``knowledge management'' have had visible repercussions. One overview of the technology transfer centres at Swiss universities, however, has produced some sobering results. Most of these centres are under-staed and under-resourced and are far from being able to gain access to the research projects of the various institutes in order to do educational work there at the appropriate time. Where does the Institute for Intellectual Property ®t in here? Not all of the technology transfer centres at the universities enjoy the same level of knowledge about intellectual property. Working closely with the universities, those responsible for the education system in Switzerland, and patent agents, we oer intensive interactive courses with the aim of improving the level of knowledge and attaining a similar level everywhere. Similarly, the university technology transfer centres need us to use our position as an instigator to assist them in drawing up manuals which can be passed on to the relevant professors. We subsequently oer the technology transfer centres individual coaching measures which are also provided via the virtual infocentre. As the next step, we are also training assistants at the various higher education institutions. Through their greater awareness of the issues involved, they will be able at an early stage in internal research projects to obtain clari®cation on, for example, the state of the art. At this juncture, I must say a few words about the service packages I mentioned before. The aim is not to sell patents. The patent itself is simply embedded in service packages upstream (1) and downstream (2) of the national patent application. The aim of Package (1) is to oer the researcher a decision tree which provides the basis at every milestone for deciding how to proceed next. It also indicates the stage at which patent agents or market researchers should be involved. If the innovative and creative activity in question leads to a national patent, we oer, in the form of Package (2), further assistance in the priority year in deciding whether to extend the territorial scope of protection. We oer to grant the national patent in a pilot phase within a two-month period and receive the international-type search from the European Patent Oce within the customary, practicable time limit. Supported by research into potential licensees and detailed documentation regarding international procedures, this service package places the technology transfer centres in a better position to make optimal use
244
A. Kurt / World Patent Information 21 (1999) 241±244
of the brief priority year and to arrive at an appropriate strategy in conjunction with their patent agents. If, at a speci®c point on the decision tree, it is advisable to interrupt the search activity, we still bill the client for our fees; after all, in such a case, we will have helped save further unnecessary investment.
with the help of suitable mediators, to negotiate special ``vertical'' co-operation contracts which envisage a commission on turnover when services are rendered in the patent information area. Products such as competition analyses and trend analyses for this target group are currently in the ®nal stages of development.
5. Vertical broker network for SMEs
6. Conclusion
Whereas the ®rst successful steps have already been taken in the higher education sector, in the present case I can speak, for the time being, only of visions and plans. Nevertheless, their implementation is scheduled to begin this year (1999) so that the ®rst results will be available in time for PATLIB 2000. As is the case with the higher education institutions, in that of industrial research portfolios as well we often arrive too late. You are well aware of the problem and you must be all too familiar with the estimated numbers of duplicate developments. Naturally, there is a general paucity of knowledge about the services which we all oer. However, there is also a problem of a lack of trust, an unwillingness to make an information specialist from the patent oce privy to the deep secrets buried in an enterprise's soul. However, every enterprise does have someone it trusts. Heads of ®rms who are aware of the usefulness of property rights have for many years been relying on patent agents with whom they can discuss new projects. Most company heads have a business consultant or a trustee whom they can trust. However, these persons are frequently unfamiliar with intellectual property issues. Our vision is to instil greater awareness of these matters into these advisers as well. We shall be launching a workshop oensive this year, the aim of which is to equip business consultants and trustees with a basic knowledge of patent, trade mark and design protection so that they are able to take a critical look at research ideas in time, seek clari®cation and involve both patent agents and the Institute for Intellectual Property at the right moment. Further along the line, it will be possible,
The ideas which I have described allow us to co-ordinate our various external and internal tasks. The Institute is able to ful®l its economic mandate ± that of disseminating information on industrial property rights ± by virtualising information, as well as taking the plunge in the direction of e-commerce. Our activities in the higher education and industrial sectors are contributing to a reduction in the number of misdirected investments and to an increase in the use of property rights. All of our activities are consistent in their reliance on a well-developed broker network which promotes demand for the services of patent agents, business consultants, industrial designers and creative innovators. In pursuing this path, the Institute for Intellectual Property is laying the building blocks of a new future. We are remaining faithful to our core activities and building up the independent service sector, at the same time as provisionally strengthening the national patent by embedding it in customised service packages and, ®nally, we are emancipating ourselves from many of the selling activities with which so many national oces and patent information centres are currently wrestling. References [1] Kurt A. Swiss Federal institute for intellectual property: new image-newclients. The future of regional documentation and central information centres in gaining and retaining clients. World Patent Information 1999;21(1):13. [2] Bock C. The need for trust in electronic commerce in intellectual property. World Patent Information 2000;21(4):237.