Research & Webinars

Here we provide a number of reports and research summaries related to SMEs and innovation. You will find additional materials in our main research section.

Papers, briefs and publications


Inventing the Future: An Introduction to Patents for Small and Medium Enterprises - Summary

by Lien Verbauwhede Koglin, Esteban Burrone, Marco Marzano de Marinis, Nicole J.S. Sudhindra and Guriqbal Singh Jaiya

Inventing the Future: An Introduction to Patents for Small and Medium Enterprises - Summary

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Categories: SMEs

Intellectual Property Management in Small and Medium-Sized Enterprises

by ROCHA LIMA Francisco / BELMINO DOS SANTOS João

Intellectual Property Management in Small and Medium-Sized Enterprises

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Categories: SMEs

SMEs and Standard Essential Patents: Licensing Efficiently In The Internet Of Things

by TSILIKAS, Harris / TAPIA, Claudia

SMEs and Standard Essential Patents: Licensing Efficiently In The Internet Of Things

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Categories: SMEs, Standardisation, Licensing

To Patent or not to Patent: That is the Question

by CHIRICO, Francisco/ CRIACO, Giuseppe/ Baù, Massimo/ NALDI, Lucia/ GOMEZ-MEJIA, Luis R./ KOTLAR, Josip

To Patent or not to Patent: That is the Question

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Categories: SMEs

How OSS licensing could coinhabit with standards development organisations’ existing IPR policies

by Axel Ferrazzini

How OSS licensing could coinhabit with standards development organisations’ existing IPR policies

Over the past few years, standards development organisations (SDOs) have been assessing how open source software (OSS) could be used to complement standardisation activities. Given that most SDOs have pre-existing intellectual property rights (IPR) policies based on fair reasonable and non-discriminatory (FRAND) access to essential patents, a key challenge for SDOs has therefore been to determine how OSS licensing could coinhabit with SDOs’ existing IPR policies. This has led to considerable discussion and debate and some confusion. Given the diversity of views on the topic, this document is intended to provide some clarity on some critical aspects.

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Categories: Standardisation, Licensing, Open Source Software

Leading innovations that will shape the way we take to the road

Leading innovations that will shape the way we take to the road

4iP Council speaks to Ray Millien, VP and Chief IP Counsel at Volvo Cars

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Evaluating the EC Private Data Sharing Principles: Setting a Mantra for Artificial Intelligence Nirvana?

by Dr. Begoña Gonzalez Otero. IP Researcher and Consultant

Evaluating the EC Private Data Sharing Principles:  Setting a Mantra for Artificial Intelligence Nirvana?

This article talks to recent European Commission communications on data trading and artificial intelligence with a focus on the Commission's “Guidance on Sharing Private Sector Data in the European Economy” which came with a working document: “Guidance on Sharing Private Sector Data in the European Data Economy”. Do these principles set a viable legal framework for data sharing or this public policy tool is merely a naïve expectation? Moreover, would these principles set a successful path toward a thriving European AI advancement? The author tries to sketch some answers to these and related questions.

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Categories: Digital Single Market, Artificial Intelligence and Data

Standardisation, Open Source, and Innovation: Sketching the Effect of IPR Policies

by Martin Husovec. Assist. Professor, Tilburg University (Tilburg Institute for Law, Technology, and Society & Tilburg Law and Economics Center)

Standardisation, Open Source, and Innovation: Sketching the Effect of IPR Policies

This summary report explores the following questions: “What are the differences between standards development organisations (SDOs)’ IPR policies and open source licenses in dealing with IPRs?” “What frictions may arise from such differences in their interactions?” “Whether the current IPRs framework of formal SDOs is adequate to embrace OSS?”. This summary is drawn from the following paper: Husovec, Martin, Standardization, Open Source, and Innovation: Sketching the Effect of IPR Policies (July 18, 2018). Forthcoming in Jorge Contreras (eds.) Cambridge Handbook of Technical Standardization Law (CUP 2019); TILEC Discussion Paper No. 2018-034. Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=3215769

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Categories: Standardisation, Licensing, Open Source Software

Intellectual property licensing tensions: in utilizing open source software in the formal standard setting context

by Jingze Li. Tilburg University (Tilburg Institute for Law, Technology, and Society)

Intellectual property licensing tensions: in utilizing open source software in the formal standard setting context

This summary report explores the following questions: “What are the differences between standards development organisations (SDOs)’ IPR policies and open source licenses in dealing with IPRs?” “What frictions may arise from such differences in their interactions?” “Whether the current IPRs framework of formal SDOs is adequate to embrace OSS?”. It is drawn by the author from a paper first published by the ITU: J. Li, "Intellectual property licensing tensions in incorporating open source into formal standard setting context — The case of Apache V.2 in ETSI as a start," 2017 ITU Kaleidoscope: Challenges for a Data-Driven Society (ITU K), Nanjing, 2017, pp. 1-8. The paper is available for download in the IEEE document library. An extended version of the paper has been submitted to the European Journal of Law and Technology and will available under SSRN.

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Categories: Standardisation, Licensing, Open Source Software

Patent hold-up and patent hold-out: evolutions in Europe and the US

by Marie Barani

Patent hold-up and patent hold-out: evolutions in Europe and the US

This paper looks at hold-up and hold-out with respect to standard-essential patents (SEPs) in the ICT sector. It examines the evolution from a hold-up focused view in the US and Europe towards consideration of hold-out by regulatory authorities and courts. Similarities and differences regarding SEPs licensing and enforcement in both regions are addressed. This paper is an update of the article “From Patent Hold-Up to Patent Hold-Out”. The last version of this article was published in the Corporate and Global Standardization Initiatives in Contemporary Societies, 2018.

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Categories: Standardisation, IP and Competition Law