At present, most scientific research institutions in China mainly rely on national scientific research funds to carry out scientific research activities, and the funds and staffing are relatively tight, so it is impossible to invest a lot of manpower and material resources in intellectual property management. In order to help scientific research institutions effectively manage intellectual property rights and improve the quality and efficiency of intellectual property management, the author puts forward several suggestions for reference.
Establish a special intellectual property management department
First of all, it is necessary to establish a special intellectual property management department, equipped with full-time personnel with legal knowledge and practical skills related to intellectual property rights to manage intellectual property rights. The main work of this department can include formulating the internal intellectual property management system planning of scientific research institutions; Organizing and tracking the whole process of patent application, protection and transformation; Manage patent-related processes, provide intellectual property advice to researchers, urge and assist researchers to apply for patents; Maintain patent information database, track and manage patent application and maintenance process; Actively promote the utilization and transformation of scientific and technological achievements.
In addition, because scientific research institutions often include multi-disciplinary and multi-directional research groups or R&D centers, they can also appoint part-time or full-time patent commissioners for each research group or R&D center to cooperate with intellectual property departments in patent mining, evaluation and application.
Innovating intellectual property management system
By establishing and perfecting the internal rules and regulations of intellectual property management, the rights and obligations of scientific researchers are clearly defined, and the standardization, institutionalization and long-term effectiveness of intellectual property management are realized.
It is necessary to establish a patent application system, ensure that patent applications are published before papers, and prevent the loss of intellectual property assets of scientific research institutions; Establish a patent novelty retrieval system before opening the topic to prevent the waste of manpower, material resources and financial resources; Establish a system of patent evaluation and funding guarantee, and adopt a mechanism linking patents with professional titles, academic level evaluation and project application to encourage patent applications. The sources of funding for patent applications should be provided by scientific research institutions in a unified way, or patent application fees should be reserved in advance in scientific research funds. At present, in order to encourage scientific and technological innovation, the state has formulated many preferential and funding policies, and scientific research institutions should make full use of these policies to reduce their patent application fees.
It is necessary to establish a patent reward system and cash in the rewards for inventors in time. In order to encourage scientific researchers to apply for patents and strive for the enthusiasm of authorization, appropriate rewards should be given to the labor paid by scientific and technological personnel in the process of patent application, including the rewards at the time of application and the rewards after authorization. In addition, for inventors who have successfully converted their patents, other rewards can be given appropriately besides those stipulated in the Patent Law. For example, the corresponding income obtained by scientific research institutions through the transfer or licensing of intellectual property rights can be distributed among scientific research institutions and researchers in a certain proportion. The reward system should be implemented, not a mere formality. Only in this way can we give full play to the incentive function of the reward system.
It is necessary to establish an intellectual property training system and cultivate the awareness of scientific research personnel to protect intellectual property rights. For example, hold lectures and trainings on intellectual property regularly, strengthen the intellectual property awareness of scientific researchers, understand the importance of protecting intellectual property rights and how to protect their own intellectual property rights. You can also invite experienced patent lawyers to have discussions with researchers on a regular basis, and the researchers will introduce scientific research projects to the patent lawyers, and the patent lawyers will provide suggestions on intellectual property rights to the researchers, so as to explore scientific research achievements that can apply for patents.
Take various measures to promote the transformation of patent achievements
The ultimate goal of scientific research is to serve production and life. As the main body of scientific research innovation in China, scientific research institutions should actively seek the transformation of intellectual property achievements, realize the economic and social values of scientific and technological achievements, and maintain sustainable development. For example, patent transformation can be carried out in the following ways:
Actively recommend scientific and technological achievements to enterprises. For example, set up the patent information center of the unit, sort out the patents, and regularly announce or inform the enterprises and society about the main scheme, application prospect and possible economic value of patents through the network platform or other means. Or participate in various exhibitions and hold patent auctions, actively recommend to relevant enterprises, and transfer the right to use or ownership of patents by auction, license, pledge or transfer.
Secondly, considering that some domestic enterprises are small in scale, lack of financial strength, weak in risk-taking ability, and have concerns about patent conversion, it is suggested that patent conversion should be carried out by capitalization, that is, intellectual property rights are used as joint-stock investment enterprises, and scientific research institutions obtain benefits according to the agreed share of economic benefits. For some enterprises with limited technical level and unable to digest the transformation of patented technology implementation results, scientific research institutions can send professional and technical personnel to settle in enterprises to guide patent implementation and train relevant technical personnel for enterprises.
Of course, some researchers can also be encouraged to start their own businesses for more advanced patents with market prospects. Scientific research institutions can provide some start-up funds to researchers in the form of major shareholders, set up subsidiaries under their own institutions and implement patents. After obtaining the benefits, they can in turn use part of the proceeds as research funds, thus truly embarking on the road of combining Industry-University-Research. You can also obtain start-up funds through pledge financing, taking intellectual property as collateral and lending to financial institutions.
In the management of intellectual property rights, many professional tasks are often involved, such as the process, cost and deadline management of patent application, the writing of patent application documents, the reply of examination opinions, the transformation and transaction of patent achievements, etc. In view of the shortage of personnel in the intellectual property management department of scientific research institutions, these tasks can be entrusted to external intermediaries to give full play to the advantages of industry division of labor and improve the quality and efficiency of intellectual property management.