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The European Commission has recently published a call for proposals for a contractor to run the IPR-Helpdesk for the years 2005-07. The deadline for submission of proposals is 16 June 2004.
All relevant information may be found at
/fp6/dc/fp6/
call_details.cfm?CALL_ID=130 |
 he importance of intellectual property rights (IPR) has grown enormously in recent years,” according to Alex Weir, communications manager of the IPR-Helpdesk. “It has come to affect more and more people’s daily work and leisure activities. In doing so it has moved from being largely the preserve of patent specialists, to engaging other disciplines and perspectives. IPR has become global, not only geographically but also in the range of disciplines it touches.”
Because the subject of intellectual property rights has more often been seen from the viewpoint of those wishing to protect inventions, their value in promoting and disseminating new technologies – and therefore encouraging innovation – has too often been downplayed. With the focus of innovation policy at European level moving towards greater dissemination of technological results, rather than simple exploitation by their developer, greater attention is being paid to both aspects of IPR.
Crossing borders
For smaller companies and organisations in particular, the complexities and costs of ensuring adequate IPR protection across the whole of the European Union and beyond often discourage them from adequately protecting their technological results. Moreover, for participants in collaborative projects, involving partners from several countries such as with Sixth Framework Programme (FP6) projects, the multinational dimension can complicate the IPR aspects of their work.
“As a result, the European Commission identified the need to help European innovators protect the intellectual property rights generated in their work, and in October 1998 established the Intellectual Property Rights (IPR) Helpdesk,” explains Weir. “Since that time our role has been to assist European research and technological development contractors with IPR-related matters, and more generally to raise awareness of IPR throughout Europe.”
Wide-ranging
“In all fields of EU RTD activities awareness of IP is essential, especially when examining technology, legal and policy issues,” Weir emphasises. “The IPR-Helpdesk can assist by helping contractors to protect their IPR and informing them of the legal hurdles that may confront them before they appear.”
Contractors and others involved with research and development issues require assistance with a wide range of intellectual-property-related issues, for example:
- How do I protect and share the IPR assets I bring into my FP6 project?
- Who owns the ‘knowledge’ or the IPR gained in any Framework Programme project?
- What are our consortium obligations to exploit and disseminate this knowledge?
- What should be included in our ‘consortium agreement’?
- Where can I find professional help on IPR-issues in my language?
“These are typical of the questions received on a daily basis by the IPR-Helpdesk, from contractors or others preparing a proposal for FP6 funding,” according to Weir.
With the new instruments, notably Integrated Projects and Networks of Excellence, which are being used to implement FP6, typical projects are much bigger than in previous Framework Programmes. Consequently, the IPR questions related to participation can be more complex, in particular for smaller organisations and firms. The IPR-Helpdesk’s website contains detailed information on all these questions and many more, and should be consulted by anybody involved in an FP6 project.
Raising awareness
In order to address the full range of issues, the IPR-Helpdesk team organises and delivers seminars and workshops throughout the European Union, from Poland to Portugal and beyond. “These seminars have proved to be one of the most effective ways of reaching the target audience,” Weir notes.
They have, in general, been organised with the support of members of the multiplier community such as the Innovation Relay Centres (IRC) network(1), the Euro Info Centres and IGLO, the group of national R&D liaison offices in Brussels. Working with such organisations enables the IPR-Helpdesk to guarantee that they are targeting the users who really need the free support and assistance offered by the IPR-Helpdesk service.
Forthcoming locations for events include Berlin, Dublin, Vienna, Vilnius, Brussels and Istanbul. Details of all these and future seminars and workshops can be obtained by sending an e-mail to the Helpdesk team(2).
The IPR-Helpdesk provides an extensive website(3) with direct access to comprehensive IPR-related information. There is also a Helpline service manned by legal experts to answer IPR-related questions: this service is accessible free of charge via e-mail(2).
(1) See ‘Encouraging firms to open up’, edition 2/04
(2) IPR-Helpdesk Helpline: ipr-helpdesk@ua.es
(3) See http://www.ipr-helpdesk.org/
Contact
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IPR-HELPDESK