Press Briefing - Insufficient use of innovation support mechanisms in Europe
5 November 2003
Belgium
Apart from a general lack of awareness there is a widespread knowledge deficit of purpose and scope of the information that can be derived from patent documentations, particularly in terms of business intelligence: these are the key findings of survey on patent information usage in European companies published by the European Patent Office.
They largely confirm the results of an earlier study carried out in the 1990s by the German Roland Berger Institute on behalf of the EPO, which had been supported by the EU,Commission.
The report, produced by the Dutch research company Motivaction, focuses on the way the users of the European patent system, in particular technology-oriented small and mediumsized companies, multinational corporations as well as universities and patent attorneys, are using the patent information system for their innovation-related and business purposes. The results are unequivocal: 50 % to 70 % of the (interviewed) companies are not aware of the EPOs patent information services, the report states. Apart from general access problems to such information in some countries the researchers also found that most companies and especially SMEs have no idea what patent information can do for them.
This contrasts with the findings from interviews with American companies who are displaying a greater consciousness of the value of such information: 75% of the interviewed companies said that they had access to patent information, compared to 2% in Cyprus. US companies were found to be better equipped to handle patents and patent information, they are more innovation-minded... the survey states.
While the overall problem seems to be a low level of the awareness of the existence of patent information, the report points to shortcomings in the products on offer. According to the findings, full use of patent information is also discouraged by the information being not easily accessible and /or difficult to use. The report also marks a general need for help in accessing patent information and demand for user-friendliness of the patent information systems. It also suggests that not all patent information efforts should be concentrated on the Internet, but also to consider other distribution channels and stresses the need training and informing (...) professional organisations.
Information for Journalists:,1. The note refers to the report Usage Profiles Of Patent Information Among Current And Potential Users, drawn up by the Dutch company Motivaction, Amsterdam, on behalf of the European Patent Office in September 2003. The full report is published at http://www.european-patent-office.org/news/info/survey2003/index.php(opens in new window)
2. What does patent information mean?
The patent system is one of the most comprehensive public information systems documenting progress in applied technology. The legal provisions laid down in the European patent law (European Patent Convention, EPC) demand a far-reaching description of the invention, as well as the disclosure of bibliographic and other relevant data by the applicant in order to obtain the grant of a patent. After publication of the patent application eighteen months from filing this information is freely accessible. Therefore, patent documentations and collections constitute an unparalleled mine of technical information and business intelligence: It is estimated that up to 80% of the applied technical knowledge today are disclosed in patent documents, and only there.
In the late 1980s the member states of the European Patent Organisation have adopted a policy of systematic collection and distribution of data contained in patents. Today the patent collections of more than 60 countries from all over the world, the bibliographic and legal status data pertaining to these documents, as well as procedural data pertaining to each patent in process before the EPO can be accessed through a network of more than 240 Patent Documentation Centres, a large range of digital information products and the EPOs esp@cenet patent information server and epoline® e-business service.
3. The European Patent Office is an international organisation set up on the basis of the EPC, which was signed in Munich on 5 October 1973. The mission of the EPO is to support innovation, competitiveness and economic growth for the benefit of the citizens of Europe by granting European patents following the provisions of the EPC. The EPO is the executive body of the European Patent Organisation which currently has 27 member states. The EPO has a workforce of nearly 6 000 staff employed in its headquarters in Munich and branch offices in The Hague, Berlin and Vienna.
For further information please contact:,David Sant ,European Patent Office ,Brussels Liaison Bureau ,E-mail: dsant@epo.org ,Tel: +32 2 274 15 91
Rainer Osterwalder,Press Officer EPO,D-80298 Munich,E-mail: rosterwalder@epo.org,Tel.: +49 89 / 23 99 50 12
-----------------------------------------------------------------,EPO Press Briefing ,at 11:00 on Wednesday 5th November ,EPO Brussels Bureau,60 ave de Cortenbergh (near Schuman), 1000 Bruxelles,
They largely confirm the results of an earlier study carried out in the 1990s by the German Roland Berger Institute on behalf of the EPO, which had been supported by the EU,Commission.
The report, produced by the Dutch research company Motivaction, focuses on the way the users of the European patent system, in particular technology-oriented small and mediumsized companies, multinational corporations as well as universities and patent attorneys, are using the patent information system for their innovation-related and business purposes. The results are unequivocal: 50 % to 70 % of the (interviewed) companies are not aware of the EPOs patent information services, the report states. Apart from general access problems to such information in some countries the researchers also found that most companies and especially SMEs have no idea what patent information can do for them.
This contrasts with the findings from interviews with American companies who are displaying a greater consciousness of the value of such information: 75% of the interviewed companies said that they had access to patent information, compared to 2% in Cyprus. US companies were found to be better equipped to handle patents and patent information, they are more innovation-minded... the survey states.
While the overall problem seems to be a low level of the awareness of the existence of patent information, the report points to shortcomings in the products on offer. According to the findings, full use of patent information is also discouraged by the information being not easily accessible and /or difficult to use. The report also marks a general need for help in accessing patent information and demand for user-friendliness of the patent information systems. It also suggests that not all patent information efforts should be concentrated on the Internet, but also to consider other distribution channels and stresses the need training and informing (...) professional organisations.
Information for Journalists:,1. The note refers to the report Usage Profiles Of Patent Information Among Current And Potential Users, drawn up by the Dutch company Motivaction, Amsterdam, on behalf of the European Patent Office in September 2003. The full report is published at http://www.european-patent-office.org/news/info/survey2003/index.php(opens in new window)
2. What does patent information mean?
The patent system is one of the most comprehensive public information systems documenting progress in applied technology. The legal provisions laid down in the European patent law (European Patent Convention, EPC) demand a far-reaching description of the invention, as well as the disclosure of bibliographic and other relevant data by the applicant in order to obtain the grant of a patent. After publication of the patent application eighteen months from filing this information is freely accessible. Therefore, patent documentations and collections constitute an unparalleled mine of technical information and business intelligence: It is estimated that up to 80% of the applied technical knowledge today are disclosed in patent documents, and only there.
In the late 1980s the member states of the European Patent Organisation have adopted a policy of systematic collection and distribution of data contained in patents. Today the patent collections of more than 60 countries from all over the world, the bibliographic and legal status data pertaining to these documents, as well as procedural data pertaining to each patent in process before the EPO can be accessed through a network of more than 240 Patent Documentation Centres, a large range of digital information products and the EPOs esp@cenet patent information server and epoline® e-business service.
3. The European Patent Office is an international organisation set up on the basis of the EPC, which was signed in Munich on 5 October 1973. The mission of the EPO is to support innovation, competitiveness and economic growth for the benefit of the citizens of Europe by granting European patents following the provisions of the EPC. The EPO is the executive body of the European Patent Organisation which currently has 27 member states. The EPO has a workforce of nearly 6 000 staff employed in its headquarters in Munich and branch offices in The Hague, Berlin and Vienna.
For further information please contact:,David Sant ,European Patent Office ,Brussels Liaison Bureau ,E-mail: dsant@epo.org ,Tel: +32 2 274 15 91
Rainer Osterwalder,Press Officer EPO,D-80298 Munich,E-mail: rosterwalder@epo.org,Tel.: +49 89 / 23 99 50 12
-----------------------------------------------------------------,EPO Press Briefing ,at 11:00 on Wednesday 5th November ,EPO Brussels Bureau,60 ave de Cortenbergh (near Schuman), 1000 Bruxelles,