Inclusive Innovation Ecosystems
It is widely recognized that innovation will be required to address the pressing challenges facing societies today. Success is more likely when all available talent and experience can be leveraged. A wide range of actors must be able to participate in innovation ecosystems. Intellectual property rights help to make this happen. IP rights such as patents allow technology and know-how to be shared and traded. They enable innovators without a significant in-house R&D capacity to access and use technology, and to integrate that technology into their value chains. Innovators of all types and sizes benefit from access to these business tools. Certain innovators – such as SMEs and minority inventors – will require support to secure protection for and effectively manage their IP. Innovation Council supports initiatives to broaden participation in innovation ecosystems.
Innovation Council submission to the ITC investigation on the TRIPS Agreement
Innovation Council submitted these perspectives to the ITC investigation of COVID-19 Diagnostics and Therapeutics and Flexibilites under the TRIPS Agreement.
There are many actions that could help to improve the availability of COVID therapeutics and diagnostics; setting aside IP protection is not one of them. Based on experience, we expect this will not help in establishing further manufacturing capacity – and, in fact, weaker IP could make this likely to succeed. IP protection supports the extension of global biomanufacturing capacity, by making tech transfer more legally certain, and support innovation and commercialization of new solutions in this sector.
https://innovationcouncil.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/06/Innovation-Council-ITC-Submission.pdf
Moderated Discussion with Geneva Delegates: Insights from Biomanufacturing Experts
Innovation Council recently hosted an insightful webinar with leaders in biologics manufacturing and R&D from emerging markets.
The speakers, Syed Ahmed from TechInvention, Charlie Nemugumoni from AVMI and Rajinder Suri from DCVMN drew on lessons from COVID-19 and practical experience to discuss how to reinforce global biomanufacturing R&D networks for overall healthcare delivery as well as pandemic preparedness.
Thank you to the speakers for an informative and exciting discussion!
Innovation Council Member Q&A: The African Vaccine Manufacturing Initiative (AVMI)
USPTO Pilot Program Reduced Gender Disparities in Patenting
The United States Patents and Trademark Office (USPTO) undertook a randomized control trial to assess the value that could be provided by increasing guidance and information for inventors, especially women, about patents.
Women are more likely to enter the patent system through small and micro entities, which do not have legal patent support or advice, therefore providing additional guidance can aid women in patenting their inventions, subsequently closing the gender gap in patenting. The Pro Se Pilot Examination Unit was able to increase all women’s likelihood of receiving a patent by 16.8 percentage points.
Click here to read more.
Global Innovation Index 2022 – What is the future of innovation-driven growth?
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.
Where are U.S. women patentees? Assessing three decades of growth
The United States Patent and Trademark Office today released a new report, titled “Where are U.S. women patentees? Assessing three decades of growth.” The report examines women’s patenting by U.S. counties from 1990 through 2019. Over that 30-year period, women inventors patented in 411 new counties, an increase of 32% in the number of counties where women patent.
Read the full report here.
Why the United States urgently needs patent subject-matter eligibility reform
The law is in a state of disarray that has led to inconsistent case decisions, deep uncertainty in the innovative, investment and legal communities, and unpredictable outcomes in prosecution and litigation. David Kappos, Paul Michel, Corey Salsberg and Matthew Dowd argue that the United States’ legislators must act to ensure the country maintains its long-standing competitive edge in the global innovation race.
Click here to read the full story.
Singapore’s Biomedical Cluster: Lessons From Two Decades of Innovation And Manufacturing Policy
Since 2000, Singapore has managed to shift its positioning from a pharmaceutical manufacturing outpost to a location for biomedical activities across the whole innovation and manufacturing value chain. This has been supported by a coordinated, proactive and patient policy that prioritised access to funding, skilled people and infrastructure provision, underpinned by a supportive regulatory environment.
Read the full case study here.
Villgro Africa: helping health startups take their ideas to market
WIPO Magazine has recently published an article on Innovation Council member, Villgro Africa, and how they are helping health startups take their ideas to market.
Villgro Africa is a Nairobi-based business incubator and early-stage investor focusing on health and life sciences. Dr Robert Karanja, the incubator’s Chief Innovation Officer and co-founder, explains how Villgro Africa is working to transform Africa’s innovation landscape and helping startups take their ideas to market.
Click here for the full story.