Benchmarking National - PRO INNO Europe

4. Innovation by patent
Information (IOI)
Country: The Netherlands
Original title: Innovatie door Octrooi-informatie (IOI)
Target group: SMEs
Coverage: National
(Pro-active) awareness raising measures/Public Relations
(X) Information Provision Services
Category*: (X) Training
Customized in-depth consulting and advisory services/
X
points
Finance & Legal Framework
*classification system defined by the Austrian Institute for SME Research
4.1 Innovation by patent Information (IOI)
in a nutshell
The service “Innovatie door Octrooi-informatie (IOI)” (Innovation by patent
Information (IOI)) was a service run by a development agency (Syntens) and the
Dutch patent office. This institutional set up was the main reason for including the
service as a case study in the scope of the underlying benchmarking study – it
shows how development agencies and patent offices can cooperate for the better
of SMEs. Furthermore, the service also shows how potential conflicts with the
private sector of IPR service provision may arise and how they can be solved.
Though the programme as such does not exist any more, its activities continue as
part of day-to-day work of both organisations. The objectives of IOI were given as
follows:
� To stimulate patent awareness among innovative, industrial SMEs and promote
the use of patents as a source of technological and market information.
� To educate SMEs and transferring knowledge skills enabling SMEs to find
information on patents, i.e. through patent database research (patent scans).
� To increase the awareness about the value of patent information of the staff at
Syntens.
In essence, IOI is an example of a service that tries to foster the IPR system through
patent database searches. One of the most important things that set this service
aside from other such services is that it is offered and operated jointly by a
technology/development agency and the national patent office. It thus aids to
overcome the separation between the PO/IPR support service world and the world
of innovation support of the development/technology agencies which is otherwise
visible rather often across Europe.
In terms of marketing activities, the goals of the service are expressed in a much
more operational manner:
� to inform and acquire new client companies;
� to assess the need profiles for each acquired company in the field of patent
information;
� to carry out patent scans periodically; looking at specific needs for free28 (till
2004);
� to refer to other parties (patent agents, patent office) to carry out patents
scans in a later stage to be paid for and deepening research (from 2004 on).
28 This objective has been changed afterwards due to complaints by a patent attorney.
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ANNEX I – CASE STUDIES