Special Issue In Cooperation With The European Patent Office And The European IP Helpdesk

Small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), universities, and public research organisations are critical drivers of innovation, employment, and economic growth. Today, intellectual property (IP) has become a core business asset for any organisation— whether developing technology in-house or acquiring it through assignment or licensing—and effectively managing and leveraging these assets is critical. This is especially true for SMEs.

With knowledge being one of the main driving forces of modern-day economies and “Open Innovation” becoming an increasingly important concept of collaboration, intellectual property (IP) has become a central (business) asset. Different kinds of IP—whether trademarks, patents, copyright, know how or design—can be used and exploited in various settings and multiple ways. It is the effective use and uptake of novel scientific discoveries and promising research results that will keep European businesses at the forefront of growth, prosperity, and competitiveness in the future. Consequently, project teams and companies engaged in research and innovation activities need to come up with convincing valorisation strategies to actually turn those results into “real” innovations capable of addressing pressing societal and economic challenges of our time.

Growth as spectacular as that of BioNTech, inventor of the Covid-19 vaccine, depends on sequencing a combination of intellectual assets, says Audrey Yap in an article inspired by the EPO and LESI’s High-Growth Technology Business Initiative.

Based on his academic research at Sweden’s Chalmers University of Technology, Nandan Khokar developed a new tape weaving technology. This technology and its woven materials became the basis for the foundation of the start-up company Oxeon in 2003. IP protection for the technology helped to attract private investment and funding, and Dr Khokar also benefitted from business support from Chalmers School of Entrepreneurship. This combination of private ownership and public innovation support led to the commercialisation of innovative tape-woven textiles for use in the sports, industrial, and aerospace sectors, and the licensing of the weaving technology for non-competing applications.

Research collaboration between University College Dublin (UCD) and Bio-Medical Research (BMR) led to the patenting of an innovative solution to an unmet clinical need and created real impact on the quality of people’s lives. Following licensing of the technology by UCD, BMR validated it in clinical trials, secured regulatory approval and launched the product in Europe. Due to the attractiveness of the U.S. market, the strategic decision was taken to create Atlantic Therapeutics, a spin-out company of BMR, to raise investment to finance market expansion based on a strong patent portfolio.

R&D led by four female inventors from a Turkish university laboratory resulted in a product that can treat open wounds, such as diabetic ulcers. Although IP protection was secured early on with the help of the local technology transfer office, initial commercialisation attempts through licensing failed. Encouraged by their participation in a start-up acceleration programme, the female inventor team created the start-up Dermis Pharma. With the help of strong IP, the young company was able to secure the necessary venture capital funding for cost-intensive clinical trials and product development. A corporate partnership became possible through an IP-assignment deal with a big Turkish pharma company and accelerated the commercialisation process.

A collaboration between a Politecnico di Milano research team and e-Novia, a company creator, led to the development of new technology for ABS control systems and the creation of a disruptive spinoff company Blubrake, with some of the inventors later becoming involved in the management of the company.

Spinning out from the Portuguese University of Coimbra proved to be the best way forward for Perceive3D to commercialise a promising technology in the medical imaging area. Due to the small size of the local market, broad patent protection proved crucial to both targeting international markets and securing continuous investment during the long development and approval phases leading up to commercialisation of the technology.

Encouraged by an IP-savvy university institute director with an entrepreneurial spirit and positive feedback from industry sponsors, a team of young researchers decided to bring their fibre optic measurement technology to market. Access to the university’s patent portfolio and research facilities, together with the business experience acquired by one of the co-founders, paved the way to the creation of fos4X. The young company decided early on to focus on applications for wind turbines, and their patents turned out to be crucial in a market of mostly large players. The company was acquired in 2020 by PolyTech on the basis of its innovative technology and IP portfolio.

The development of a long-term technology transfer strategy allowed the Technical University of Vienna to jointly build IP in additive manufacturing with its industry partner, Ivoclar. Balancing the allocation of usage rights by application field led to the commercialisation of the research results by Ivoclar and the university’s two spin-offs, Lithoz and Cubicure.

This article describes a framework of licence-based business models for technology-driven companies and highlights some of the crucial issues in tailoring licensing agreements to the needs of the chosen business model.

Owners of high-growth technology businesses should decide at an early stage whether they are developing their company for continuation as an independent organization (build-to-grow) or for an exit (build-to-sell). The choice of one pathway over the other has a huge impact on the strategic decisions made when building a successful business. The three key intellectual assets—technology, brand, and operational excellence—are dominant value drivers for an exit deal in a build-to-sell process. Developing a sound portfolio of intellectual assets over many years before the exit will not only provide the business owners with an increased exit valuation, it will also give the company a sustainable competitive advantage in the event a planned exit does not take place or is delayed. When a build-to-sell choice is made, a dedicated board function should have the prime responsibility for the salability of the business, allowing the CEO to remain focused on the growth of the business. Continuous management of the exit process years in advance and for some time after the exit transaction is crucial for ultimate exit success.

European Research & Innovation (R&I) funding programmes, in particular Horizon Europe, offer great opportunities for start-ups and small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) to leverage external knowledge through collaboration. There is a multitude of reasons why small businesses participate in EU funding programmes. Besides seeking grants to finance Research & Development personnel, SMEs consider collaborative R&I projects an ideal “Open Innovation” (OI) environment to jointly develop new technologies, products, or services. However, such multi-partner collaborations bring together very different partners from academia, research, and industry with varying motivations and interests. Collaborative R&I projects showcase a mix of plans and pathways to use project outcomes beyond the project, thus resulting in a higher complexity for Intellectual Property (IP) management strategies and good practices to meet the needs and expectations of all partners involved. This article provides an overview on the IP strategy framework and related rules, procedures, and best practices in European R&I funding programmes.