European IPR Helpdesk

European IPR Helpdesk

MSCA – Bridging Business & Research

Presentation of the European IPR Helpdesk’s services

Léa Montesse

European IPR Helpdesk

30 April 2014, Brussels

Get your ticket to innovation!

European IPR

Helpdesk

Road Map

• Background

• EU IPR Helpdesk: • Team

• Target Groups

• General Objectives

• At a Glance: Our Services

European IPR

Helpdesk

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Background

European IPR

Helpdesk

Challenges

SMEs and universities (i.e. researchers in particular) often lack:

� awareness of importance of IP

� IP expertise

� resources to properly manage andexploit their IP

European IPR

Helpdesk

Risks

Possible consequences:

� Risk of conflicts during collaborativeprojects and possibly limited exploitation ofresearch results

� SMEs refrain from entering intocollaborative research projects

� SMEs/universities do not fully exploittheir innovative potential...

European IPR

Helpdesk

This is where the European IPR Helpdesk comes into play …

European IPR

Helpdesk

STOP

EU IPR Helpdesk: Team, Target Groups & General Objectives

European IPR

Helpdesk

Team

infeurope S.A.

Project Coordinator; Website & Helpline

Public Research Center Henri Tudor

Publications & Stakeholder Management

Eurice GmbH

Communications & Training

European IPR

Helpdesk

Target Groups

The European IPR Helpdesk is the official IP service initiative of the European Commission addressing:

� EU SMEs involved in internationalisation processes and knowledge/technology transfer

� Beneficiaries of EU-funded programmes

Current and potential participants in EU-funded projects (FP7/CIP/H2020…)

� Academia & SMEs

� Multipliers and intermediaries

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Helpdesk

General Objectives (1)

The European IPR Helpdesk aims at:

� raising awareness of the value of intellectual assets and of the necessity to secure and manage them

� empowering its target groups to develop capacities of their own to deal with IP/IPR

� building long-term partnerships with relevant multipliers networks and other IP initiatives (i.e. Enterprise Europe Network, NCPs, INNOVACCESS…) to anticipate and evaluate the IP/IPR challenges of tomorrow

European IPR

Helpdesk

General Objectives (2)

On a more practical level we aim at:

� assisting SMEs and beneficiaries of EU-funded programmes in dealing with IPR matters

� providing advice and first-line, high-quality support on IP/IPR issues via different services

European IPR

Helpdesk

STOP

At a Glance: Our Services

European IPR

Helpdesk

Services

Bulletin

Newsletter

Training

Helpline

Publications

Website

Awareness Raising

All of our services areoffered free of

charge.

European IPR

Helpdesk

Website & Publications

• News

• Events

• Model Agreements

• Fact Sheets

• Case Studies

• Bulletin

• Glossary

• FAQs

European IPR

Helpdesk

Helpline

• First-line support

• User-friendly service provided in English

• Personalised answers to individual questions within three working days

• Wide range of IP topics: IP protection, IP management and exploitation, revision of agreements,etc.

• Understandable for non-legal experts and business oriented

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Helpdesk

Zoom on: Helpline services

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Helpdesk

Sample questions sent to Helpline• Questions sent by beneficiaries of MSCA actions (formerly Marie Curie):

� Who owns the results generated during the secondment period?

� Our associated partner (a University located in the US) is requesting to be assigned all patent rights generated during the researcher’s secondment period. What can we do?

� Is the IP policy of our associated partner compatible with our obligations under the Grant Agreement?

� Can we reach an agreement transferring part of the results to our associated partner if this partner is located outside the EU?

• Questions sent by associated partners:

� We have been contacted to become involved in an MSCA action as an associated partner. Will we have any rights over the results?

• Questions sent by individual researchers

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Helpdesk

MSCA: how the Helpline can help

• Review of IPR management sections of project proposals

• General guidance and explanations to current and potential participants in MSCA as regards the IP rules applicable in the GA, the key concepts and obligations in terms of ownership, access rights, dissemination, and so on

• Review of IP and confidentiality clauses contained in draft Consortium Agreements concluded amongst beneficiaries (consistency, compatibility with the GA…)

• Review of IP and confidentiality clauses contained in draft Partnership Agreements (compatibility with MSCA rules…)

• Suggestions and help provided in negotiations between beneficiaries and associated partners, to help all parties find a common ground as a neutral source of support

• Guidance provided to individual researchers as to their IP rights in MSCA.

European IPR

Helpdesk

Helpline testimonials• A frequent user of the helpline writes

I would like to stress once more the importance of the IPR Helpdesk for entities such as ours […] which have no budget for legal assistance in this matter. Our own legal services have little to none experience with the Framework Programme and are often not capacitated to even process information in English. In any case, without the Helpdesk we would [...] remain in a disadvantageous position [...] in the consortium. Now, on the contrary, we feel protected and supported. Thank you again and please continue this excellent service.

• An EEN member based in France writes

I'm a member of the Enterprise Europe Network. We are very satisfied with the answers provided by the IPR HELPDESK. The answers are very useful for the SMEs we work with. The last queries we submitted to the IPR Helpdesk were treated with high professionalism. Answers were clear, motivated and will help the SME to take a decision. Great support !

• A UK-based SME writes

Profuse thanks for your generous reply, which addresses many of the points we were considering. We will work through it carefully and get back in touch.

European IPR

Helpdesk

Training

• “Capacity building“

• Practical and comprehensive training approach

• Individual organisation of on-location training events in cooperation with multipliers/ intermediaries

• Training Catalogue

• Web-based training sessions

European IPR

Helpdesk

Webinars & Educational Clips

• Regular courses

• Registration on our website

• Open to everyone interested in enhancing their knowledge of IP/IPR

• Easy handling

• Duration: 60 minutes & 15 minutes “Q&A”

• Short clips for online self-study:Basic facts in 15 minutes

European IPR

Helpdesk

Awareness Raising

• Participation in stakeholder/target group events (e. g. brokerage & information events)

• Professional presentation (i.e. information booth, plenary presentation, workshops)

• Provision of promotional material and information packages

• Contribution to partner newsletters & websites

European IPR

Helpdesk

Cooperation

• Cooperating with stakeholders involved in IPR and promotion of innovation in order to foster synergies (EEN, WIPO, EPO, OHIM, National Patent Offices...)

• Liaising with European business associations and other stakeholders with the purpose to foster partnerships and reach more SMEs

• Networking through LinkedIn and Twitter, which have increased during 2012

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Helpdesk

EU IPR Helpdesk Ambassador Scheme

• Implementation of the EU IPR Helpdesk Ambassador Scheme

� Intensified cooperation with the Enterprise Europe Network

� Appoint Network members as local “ambassadors” of the EU IPR Helpdesk to thus foster a network of contact points across Europe

� Aiming to increase the outreach of theEU IPR Helpdesk towards European SMEsat regional and local level in particular

� Privileged access to training and info material

European IPR

Helpdesk

Thank you.

We look forward to getting in touch with you!

For questions and general IP advice, please contact our Helpline team:

service@iprhelpdesk.eu

Phone +352 25 22 33-333 (Helpline)

Fax + 352 25 22 33-334 (Helpline)

www.iprhelpdesk.eu

For questions related to our training activities, please send us an email at: training@iprhelpdesk.eu

European IPR

Helpdesk

Photo Credits

istockphoto© istockphoto.com/maridav (slide 1)© istockphoto.com/Bliznetsov (slide 2)© istockphoto.com/Julie Felton (slide 4)© istockphoto.com/Angelika Schwarz (slide 6)© istockphoto.com/Rtimages (slides 13, 15)© istockphoto.com/Daniel Laflor (slide 13)© istockphoto.com/Danijela Pavlovic Markovic (slide 16)© istockphoto.com/Warchi (slide 21)© istockphoto.com/Dave White (slide 25)

Disclaimer/Legal Notice

The European IPR Helpdesk is managed by the European Commission’s Executive Agency for Small and Medium-sized Enterprises (EASME), with policy guidance provided by the European Commission’s Enterprise & Industry Directorate-General.

Even though this presentation has been developed with the financial support of the EU, the positions expressed are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the official opinion of EASME or the European Commission. Please see our full disclaimer at www.iprhelpdesk.eu.

Copyright© European Union (2011 - 2014)