Innovation-rich economies need the right resources in place if they are to promote the correct use of IP on the eve of the UK launch of the EU’s Seventh Framework Programme, Nigel Clarke, project manager of esp@cenet explains what the European Patent Office is doing to help

Seven years ago at the Lisbon summit, the European Union set itself an ambitious target – to transform Europe into the ‘most dynamic, competitive knowledge-based economy in the world’ by 2010. From this have sprung a number of research-, education- and innovation-centred programmes, initiatives and support measures at EU level. One of these, the Seventh Framework Programme (FP7), was launched by the European commission in late February. Its goal is to unite all research-related EU initiatives under a common target getty – to foster collaborative research across Europe and other partner countries. As well as method for funding research in Europe FP7 is also a political means for the EU Member States to promote innovation on a national and pan-European level. Each state has committed 3% of its GDP to the project by 2010 – that’s equivalent to about £5.2 billion a year.

Putting the tools in place
Backing up this vision of a research-oriented Europe is the work of the European Patent Office (EPO) to provide free and public access to its collection of 50 million patent documents stretching back to 1836 – the so called ‘database of ideas’, esp@cenet.

‘We need to create awareness of the patent system to fulfil the goals of the Lisbon Agenda,’ explains project manager Nigel Clarke. ‘Our research revealed that many universities and small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) are not aware of the patent information that is available in the public domain. esp@cenet is working to rectify that by allowing access to more than 50 million patent documents from around the world.’

Following its lead from the US system, esp@cenet is hosted on a central server at the EPO, which links in with the systems of all 60 national patent offices, including all 31 Member States. ‘Allowing access to this kind of information enables experts to assist businesses of all sizes to better research their own patent applications,’ says Nigel. ‘With the right advice, not only can a business avoid the undue expense of filing patents that infringe on an existing right, they can also use the information as part of a greater business strategy.

Our research revealed that many universities and small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) are not aware of the patent information that is available in the public domain.

‘Most of the documents that it contains are patent applications, not granted patents. Patent applications are usually the first publication of a new idea, appearing before journal articles are published or new products reach the market. With access to this kind of information, patent professionals can watch new technologies emerge, find solutions to your technical problems and discover what your competitors are doing. You can also cut down on unnecessary R&D work by choosing to build around an existing patent or to license it in.’

A user-friendly system
As an expert on patent examination – he worked as a patent examiner for the EPO before moving onto the esp@cenet project – Nigel is well aware of the value of the information that is being put online. ‘Ultimately, the material on esp@cenet is the same information that patent examiners use to approve or reject patent applications. All we’re doing is making that information accessible to the public via a simpler interface,’ he says.

esp@cenet already draws an average of 25,000 users a day, but Nigel is keen to see that number increase: ‘The development of the website really has to be user-driven in terms of its functionality,’ he says. ‘We need to make it as simple as possible to use, and the best way of doing this is by assessing how users navigate the site and by listening to their needs. We’ve made it as user-friendly as possible by including a translation engine and patent family links, so you can check to see whether similar patents have been claimed in other countries, as well as legal status information, so you can also see if the patent is in force and in which countries.’

The website also features interactive training modules to help users navigate esp@cenet efficiently and an online forum for users to interact. ‘Of course, there are still aspects we’d like to improve or add to, but it’s also a question of education. Businesses, inventors, journalists all need to be made aware of it as a resource.’

Seek professional advice
However, Nigel is also keen to stress the importance of professional advice. ‘For accurate patent searches, companies should always employ an expert to help understand the results,’ he says. ‘As easy as we hope the website is to navigate, it is still a mass of information for the layman researcher to absorb and understand. esp@cenet can give you a useful overview of the state of the art, but it’s always advisable to seek help from a patent professional when it comes to assessing those findings in terms of your long-term business plan.’


This article first appeared in IP Review, issue 18

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