Benchmarking National - PRO INNO Europe

Table 3 Characteristics of policy areas with relevance to IPR services
Policy area Need / market failure Justification Strengths Limitations
(Pro-active) This service type actively Systematic under-investment of SMEs in Ease of set-up, can be combined Often biased towards administrative aspects of filing
awareness addresses and/or contacts SMEs innovation and exploitation of intellectual with other innovation related or (formal) IPR
raising and promotes the usage of the assets support increasing the share / follow-up activities.
activities IPR system. Services of this type number of firms recognising the role of IPR.
and public are usually road shows, open
relations days, exhibitions, etc.
(Passive) These services provide
Patent searches are (i) highly specialised and Patent offices and attorneys use Often a too-strong (built-in) focus on formal IPR; and little
information information on a stand-by basis (ii) seldom performed; thus they are not patent information for fulfilling attention to the strategic dimensions of IPR and their roles
provision for interested SMEs, such as part of standard business routines of SMEs– their core business. They are thus in general innovation management.
services through patent information resulting in a classical market failure. the natural candidates for
centres and search services in
providing the services as they can
databases.
provide them at marginal costs.
Training This category subsumes all Increased awareness and know-how are Proper training can increase the There are several limitations:
educational activities in IPR considered key to better exploitation of absorptive capacity of firms both (i) training can degenerate to another means of marketing
matters where SMEs are the intellectual assets.
for better exploitation of
existing services, (ii) there may be a too narrow focus on
main beneficiary. Both sides,
intellectual assets and for the patents and the respective procedures, (iii) service
SMEs and service providers are
utilisation of other IPR related providers’ staff may itself have deficiencies due to limited
target groups for training
services. IPR training can be training opportunities (iv) the quality of the material
measures.
linked to other training needs. taught is highly significant for the success, which calls exante
for a proper review of the necessary contents and an
assessment of the quality of the contents delivered by the
providers acting in the field now
Customized Services in this category go Two main justifications: (i) market failure Properly designed, it enhances Customized in-depth consulting requires a profound
in-depth much more into the details of resulting from a poor understanding/ the intellectual assets of the firm competence of consultants. Their short supply has proven
consulting IP and IP protection and offer valuing of the intellectual assets of a firm in a broad sense. At the same a serious bottleneck, and more is needed to attract high
and
customized support to SMEs. from a strategic perspective, (ii) policy time service-providing institutions profile staff.
advisory This category often coincides failure resulting from a too narrow definition can operate on a broader field to
points/ with innovation related services of IPR issues and respective support services. assist SMEs.
services whose broader scope implies an
approach individually tailored
Again, (direct or indirect) financial assistance emphasises
formal IPR protection regimes rather than a strategic,
comprehensive approach towards exploitation of
intellectual assets.
Ease of set-up, can be combined
with other innovation related
services such as general
innovation / R&D subsidies.
High entry costs, particularly for patents, act
as barriers to the registration of patents.
Financial subsidies for patenting are in the
tradition of financial subsidies for R&D and
innovation.
to the needs of particular SMEs.
This category includes service
offerings in the field of financial
subsidies for the registration of
patents and/or in the domain of
tax provisions from which SMEs
can benefit and which are
established in the national legal
frameworks.
Most industrialised countries
have established a wide range
of RTDI support services.
Typically, the respective services
are provided by specialised
agencies. In most countries,
there is more than one agency
at the national level, plus those
at the regional level.
Financial
assistance &
legal
framework
Paradoxically, most of the merits of RTDI agencies serve at
the same time as potential disadvantages, as they exhibit
a certain ‘institutional arrogance’, due to their dominance
in providing financial support. They may exhibit blind
spots in the provision of services which are not primarily
aimed at funding but rather at building awareness or
providing counselling. Accordingly, collaboration between
the world of general RTDI support and that of exploitation
of intellectual properties are needed to overcome the
phenomenon of “institutional lock-in”.
RTDI agencies are typically well
established, visible, enjoy high
attention and are powerful (in the
long run they absorb the power
of their principals, the ministries),
Historically, two rationales have supported
the establishment of integrated innovation
agencies: the increased adoption of (i) the
‚systems of innovation‘ concept, (ii)
principles of new public management in the
field of RTDI support. Notwithstanding this,
financial support still dominates the
portfolio of services at the cost of regulation
/ standardisation, education and training
and intellectual assets / properties.
RTDI
support
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THE POLICY AGENDA FOR SMES – ISSUES TO BE ADDRESSED IN THE STUDY AND BEYOND