Υπουργείο Παιδείας, Θρησκευμάτων και Αθλητισμού

Δικτυακός Τόπος Διαβουλεύσεων

• Σχόλιο του χρήστη 'George C. Pappas' | 12 Ιανουαρίου 2016, 22:56

  Μόνιμος Σύνδεσμος

  WIPO definition of intellectual property/διανοιτηκή ιδιοκτησία: "Intellectual property (IP) refers to creations of the mind, such as inventions; literary and artistic works; designs; and symbols, names and images used in commerce. IP is protected in law by, for example, patents, copyright and trademarks, which enable people to earn recognition or financial benefit from what they invent or create. By striking the right balance between the interests of innovators and the wider public interest, the IP system aims to foster an environment in which creativity and innovation can flourish." **** IP -- not unlike real estate or personal property -- is property that can be bought, sold and/or licensed. IP is unique from other property types in the key sense that, as an intellectual construct, it only exists in "intangible" form (that is, we cannot touch it). IP RIGHTS: In lay terms, IP rights is the bundle of rights and privileges associated with those that own IP. IP LAW: IP law is simply a loosely coined term to refer to one or more types of law practiced by legal professionals or technical experts trained in many of the below relevant sub-specialties of legal jurisprudence. 1. PATENT LAW is a generic name given to laws the aim of which is to bestow rights relating to inventions. The word "invention" in the abstract has no meaning unless understood in a "legal context". This legal context is the legal framework that creates or bestows enforceable patent rights on an inventor. Patents are monopoly rights granted by a government, against its interests and against the interests of the patent holder's competitors as an incentive for the patent holder disclosing the invention to the public and for investing time, money and resources in coming up with the discovery in the first place so others can take that discovery and build on it. Patent lawyers are the advocates for the inventor (who seeks the broadest patent rights) against the Patent Office (OBI) whose role is to try and give the inventor the narrowest "legal" enforcement power. Without a properly trained patent law expert possessed of technical expertise in the subject matter of the relevant invention, the inventor's chances of getting any protection (narrow or broad) is very small. 2. TRADEMARK LAW is a generic name given to a subset of laws the aim of which is the creation and protection of, among other things, trademarks and service marks, whether or not registered. 3. TRADE SECRETS and CONFIDENTIAL INFORMATION are another type of IP, and as such IP rights can and do exist by operation of law. 4. COPYRIGHT (πνευματική ιδιοκτισία) and DESIGN PATENT protection, simply put, aim to provide protection against outright copying of the sweat and brow effort of another, and also protect artistic creations independent of any independent technical nature or properties. Neither of these two forms of IP protection provides protection in any underlying invention where the owner has not separately secured a proper utility patent in parallel. 5. ANTI-COMPETITION, DOMAIN NAME, OPEN SOURCE, and E-COMMERCE jurisprudence, as well as laws that pertain to UNFAIR BUSINESS PRACTICES, are all additional legal sub-specialties that to some extent involve the protection, and use or misuse of IP owned by another. ************ TECHNOLOGY TRANSFER (TT):ΜΕΤΑΦΟΡΑ ΤΕΧΝΟΓΝΩΣΙΑΣ/ΤΕΧΝΟΛΟΓΙΑΣ TT, and in particular, a TT professional, is a general term used to refer to a whole slew of experts engaged in the creation, development, marketing, and/or commercialization of IP derived or associated with activities stemming from fully or partially government funded research. TT experts versed in the creation and protection of patentable inventions is a unique problem in Greece due to the lack of technically and legally trained patent experts. This, in and of itself, is the single biggest obstacle to large scale successful TT across Greece. Coincidentally, it is also a problem in the private sector for the same reasons. ******* DRAFT LAW: The present draft law aims to improve the commercialization of Greek intellectual creations as a means to stimulate economic development. One of the ways to do this is to create a research environment that motivates and supports researchers in their being able (i) to create innovative new technologies; and/or (ii) to create commercializable IP and the resources to be able to monetize this IP on an international scale. Unfortunately, the proposed law gives preference to esteemed engineers and scientists in key management positions. It seems misplaced that the average scientist would receive preferential treatement over the likes of Bill Gates (Microsoft founder), Steve Jobs (Apple founder), Mark Zuckerberg (Facebook founder and college dropout), and Nathan Myhrvold (founder and globally-renowed IP commercialization expert --Intellectual Ventures). Institutions should be incentivized -- or at least afforded the opportunity to choose -- candidates with (i) proven expertise in IP commercialization and a keen mind for generating business, and/or (ii) strong academic training in public research administration and a track record of succesful management experience. ********** BASIC vs. APPLIED: What is distinction? One interpretation of basic research is that it concerns research (of bothe technical and non-technical nature) for which the creation (and thus possible commercialization) of products is either unlikely or not possible. A research activity of a technical nature might be, for example, exploring the carcinogenic effects of long term asbestos exposure. An activity of a non-technical nature on the other hand might include the exploration of the incidence of suicide during an economic crisis. While we can all agree that both basic research examples are valuable from a broader societal perspective, research of a technical nature is by far often much more expensive, requiring sophisticated, expensive and up to date equipment. Some may argue that the use of tax payer money for such purposes at times of economic crises is simply a luxury that needs to be managed and coordinated else limited or avoided altogether. Applied research is typically of a technical nature. And unlike basic research, applied research aims at the creation of commercializable IP, and/or innovative products or services. (Of course, without a sound IP ecosystem, IP commercialization of any kind is difficult, which is why more needs to be done to deal with the lack of Greek IP and TT experts.) ****** A second intepretation of basic research is research of a technical nature aimed at solving problems of which there is great social benefit. Examples of basic research of this nature includes research aimed at curing or preventing Altzheimers, lung cancer, earthquake detection, and the like. Applied research, by contrast, is limited to discoveries related to improvements in existing products, and/or new ways to deal with problems more efficiently by employing pioneer methodologies or designs. From a patenting standpoint, the costs for obtaining broad international patent coverage of a drug or other important discovery, often well before it is known that the product is safe or commercially viable, exceeds several hundreds of thousands of dollars per invention. As a practical matter, Greek institutions have neither the funding, expertise, or resources to support such activities on a large scale. The present draft law does not seem to address this key innovation challenge. Even if it were possible to direct funding for patenting and other costs for societally valuable research, at time of crisis, it seems more prudent to back investments in the next decade in improvement type innovations which are easier and less expensive to commercialize and patent. By better coordinating funding this way, it becomes possible to efficiently create strategic clusters of innovation in areas such as IoT, digital convergence, nanotechnologies, lasers/optics, generic drug improvements, and other technologies. *****************