New EPO study: European patents preferred tool for the commercialisation of inventions developed by Europe's universities and public research organisations
- European Patent Office (EPO) releases its latest patent commercialisation scoreboard
- European universities and public research organisations bring more than a third of their inventions to market
- Licencing is preferred channel of commercialisation, preferably in the home market
- Commercialisation partners include SMEs and large companies in almost equal measure
- European universities and public research organisations in southern and eastern Europe are more reliant on finding commercialisation partners in other European countries
- Study highlights that more still needs to be done to help universities and research organisations overcome barriers to commercialisation and harness their full potential
Munich, 24 November 2020 - A new study published today by the European Patent Office (EPO) shows that European universities and public research organisations use European patents as the main instrument to exploit their inventions commercially. It finds that these institutions already exploit more than a third (36%) of their inventions, with another 42% of their inventions planned to be exploited.
The study, entitled "Valorisation of scientific results - Patent commercialisation scoreboard: European universities and public research organisations", further finds that licensing is by far the preferred channel of commercialisation (accounting for 70% of the commercialisation of inventions), followed by R&D co-operation (14%) and the sale of patents (9%).
"Europe's universities and public research organisations are powerhouses of scientific research and are behind many breakthrough inventions," says EPO President António Campinos. "This report shows that they are using European patents to bring their new technologies out of the lab and into the market. But there are still significant barriers to commercialisation, and in transferring knowledge and technology to industry. These need to be addressed if Europe's economy is to harness the full potential of its research in order to keep pace with China and the US in innovation."
The data collated by the EPO also provides a profile of the entities universities and public research institutions opt to partner with for the purpose of commercialisation. According to the report, these include SMEs and large companies in almost equal measure (around 40% each), and most of the successful collaborations (74%) are concluded with partners from the same country. However, the report also shows that institutions in southern and eastern European countries do not have such local partners to the same extent, and therefore more frequently seek to find commercialisation partners in other European countries.
The study furthermore identifies the challenges facing universities and public research organisations in successfully commercialising their inventions. The main reason why two thirds of inventions are not (yet) commercialised is that the invention has not reached proof of concept, either because it is still in development (63%) or because commercial opportunities could not be identified (55%). Failure to find interested partners (38% of respondents) and a lack of resources (25%) are reported as the third and fourth most important challenges. They are particularly critical for southern and eastern European countries.
Further information
- Read the full study (PDF, 1.7 MB)
- Read the key findings (PDF, 220 KB)
- epo.org/scoreboard-research
Notes to the editor
This is the second study of its kind published by the EPO, following on from last year's Patent Commercialisation Scoreboard for SMEs which found that SMEs commercially exploit two thirds of their inventions that, and were thus more advanced than universities and public research organisations in this regard.
The current study is based on 686 interviews covering patent applications filed with the EPO between 2007 and 2018 by 241 European universities and public research organisations. It provides detailed information on their patented inventions, commercialisation patterns, and the challenges faced by research institutions in bringing them to market. It also looks at the role of technology transfer and licensing offices responsible for the exploitation of patents. As such, the study provides policy-makers with evidence on how to further exploit the economic potential of Europe's universities and research organisations.
Universities and public research organisations file one in every ten European patent applications originating from the EPO's member states. You can read our information about research institutes and innovation here, and our resources for universities here.
About the EPO
With 6 600 staff, the European Patent Office (EPO) is one of the largest public service institutions in Europe. Headquartered in Munich with offices in Berlin, Brussels, The Hague and Vienna, the EPO was founded with the aim of strengthening co-operation on patents in Europe. Through the EPO's centralised patent granting procedure, inventors are able to obtain high-quality patent protection in up to 44 countries, covering a market of some 700 million people. The EPO is also the world's leading authority in patent information and patent searching.
Media contacts European Patent Office
Luis Berenguer Giménez
Principal Director Communication / Spokesperson
Tel.: +49 89 2399 1820
press@epo.org