Enabling Innovation Policies

Ahead of the 2022 United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP27), the EPO today launched a new Clean Energy platform designed to support researchers and decision-makers involved in the race for clean-energy technologies that contribute to the UN SDGs.

The platform provides an initial selection of some 60 ready-made smart patent information searches to help scientists, engineers and decision-makers find and build upon existing green tech solutions with greater ease.

Click here to read more.

The World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) recently hosted discussions about the relationship between artificial intelligence (AI) and intellectual property (IP). Mr. Corey Salsberg, a globally recognized attorney in the fields of IP and innovation law and policy, and Vice President and Global Head of IP Affairs for Novartis, was invited to take part in the second panel featuring Stories from Innovators – A Real Life Business View on AI Innovation. This note is based on his remarks, which provide examples from Novartis’ R&D and other activities to illustrate how AI can be applied to enhance bio-pharma innovation, along with the related IP implications.

Click here to read more.

The 11th Asia Regulatory Conference was recently held from 17-21 October 2022 by the International Federation of Pharmaceutical Manufacturers and Associations (IFPMA) and the Singapore Association of Pharmaceutical Industries (SAPI). The conference, which took the form of short topic specific webinars, covered ways in which the regulatory landscape could be improved, and what this means for patients, regulators, and industry. Some topics that were covered included regulatory agilities and why this is important to patients, harmonization of regulatory approval, the changing regulatory landscape of Biotherapeutics and Advanced Therapy Medical Products, the effectiveness of the ICH and the importance of delivery the same quality of regulatory standard to patients everywhere. There was a wide range of speakers lending their view including representatives from both AstraZeneca who spoke on the lessons learned throughout COVID-19 in regard to regulatory approval and Pfizer who spoke on their experience with Post Approval Change Management
Protocol (PACMP).

Click here to watch the full video. The AstraZeneca talk begins at 35:52.

WIPO has released the 2022 Global Innovation Index with Switzerland once again placing first, for a 12th year in a row. The United States has climbed to take second position and the United Kingdom has stayed in fourth, the same as in 2021. Even though there was an expectation for a decrease in R&D after the COVID-19 pandemic, this has not been the case for many of the large corporate companies, with there being an almost 10% increase in R&D in 2021, reaching a figure of over $900 billion in 2021. Some countries increased their R&D budget spending for 2021, such as Germany, while other such as Japan and the United States didn’t. Intellectual Property filling also continued to increase in 2021 with a rise of 15%. Data was also found that 26 countries are outperforming their development with innovation, including countries such as India and Indonesia.

The Global Innovation Index predicts two new innovation waves to come, contradicting those who believe innovation driven growth is going to stay at a low. The Digital Age innovation wave and the Deep Science innovation wave are predicted to be the next two biggest breakthroughs in innovation, but it is well accepted that these will take time. The Digital Age innovation wave would focus on automation and artificial intelligence, while the Deep Science innovation wave is thought to look at bio- and nanotechnologies which would revolutionise science.

Click here to read the full report.

On September 12, 2022, President Biden signed the Executive Order on Advancing Biotechnology and Biomanufacturing Innovation for a Sustainable, Safe, and Secure American Bioeconomy. The objective of the Executive Order is to “coordinate a whole-of-government approach to advance biotechnology and biomanufacturing towards innovative solutions in health, climate change, energy, food security, agriculture, supply chain resilience, and national and economic security.” The work undertaken pursuant to the Executive Order is referred to as the National Biotechnology and Biomanufacturing Initiative (or, NBBI).

Read the full story here.

The WIPO Secretariat has compiled a selection of case studies and success stories obtained from various areas of WIPO, that showcase the use of IP rights by Small and Medium-sized Enterprises (SMEs). They provide a comprehensive overview on how IP is used by entrepreneurs, inventors and creators, to add value to their products, support business growth, create employment and promote economic development.

These stories will be presented from the 17th to the 22nd of October during the Twenty-Ninth Session of the Committee on Development and Intellectual Property (CDIP).

Read the full story.

The United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) became a technology partner to the global green-technology platform of the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO). WIPO GREEN is a public-private partnership established by WIPO in 2013. Its 145 international partners include major technology companies, intellectual property (IP) offices, business groups, research institutes, and nongovernmental organizations.

The USPTO’s contributions to WIPO GREEN include its own initiatives that are designed to address the challenge of climate change, including:

• The USPTO Climate Change Mitigation Pilot Program, which accelerates the examination of patent applications involving innovations to reduce greenhouse gas emissions
• The soon-to-be-announced Patents for Humanity: Clean Energy Technologies awards competition, a green technology–focused version of the USPTO’s highly successful Patents for Humanity awards competition

Click here to read more.

Inclusive innovation ecosystems are a priority for Innovation Council. It is for this reason that we have collaborated with WIPO and Invent Together on preparing these high-level policy panels that will take place on May 31 and June 1.

The event will focus on the importance of designing policies addressing the IP gender gap and engaging women’s participation in the innovation ecosystems of the European region.

Click here for online registration.