Patents
Questions to ask:
- What patens exist in the field of our proposal/project?
- Will we patent results from the project?
- Will I or the partners have patents that be will declare as background?
Existing patents
Always do a patent search early in the project planning.
- It will give you an idea of the uniqueness of your project. If you find a lot of patens, you must be very clear in how the new project is different and how it will create new knowledge. Knowing current patens is also useful for writing the SoA chapter.
- It will assure that you have “freedom to operate” i.e. that your project results can be exploited after the project without infringing any patent rights
Patenting results
- If project results can be patented it will strengthen you proposed project
- Who will own the patents? Think about it in advance to avoid later conflicts.
- Who will pay for the patenting?
Existing patents
- Building your project on own or partners earlier patents may be a strength to the proposal. Its shows strength in earlier achievements of the partners. (as long as you can prove that you will do something new beyond the patents)
- Any patent declared as background that new results will need for exploitation of the project results may be a source of conflict. Use may be blocked by the patent holder or the conditions for use may be unacceptable. Therefore, agree on the conditions for needed background for later use of results. “Fair and reasonable conditions” may be ok as long as all are sure that they are reasonable and fair.
Seek professional assistance for patent searches and IPR regarding patents.
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