MP Prof. Tarantilis – Need for a clear legal framework for the protection of intellectual property in research and innovation

The importance of the existence of a clear legal framework for the protection of intellectual property in the field of research and innovation was pointed out by the Member of Parliament, Professor Christos Tarantilis, during his introductory speech during yesterday’s meeting of the Committee on Research and Technology presided.

The topic of the committee meeting was “Utilization of Research and Innovation: protection and exploitation of intellectual property”.

Mr. Tarantilis stressed that one of the main conditions for the utilization of innovative technologies produced in universities and research centers is that the intellectual property rights of the technology to be commercially exploited have been fully clarified.

The same requirement applies to potential investors (such as venture capitalists and investment angels) in order to invest in a start-up. Therefore, it is necessary to formulate a clear, unambiguous and modern institutional framework for the protection and management of intellectual property. He stressed that the bill for techno upstarts that will be submitted to Parliament in the coming days is an important step that is moving in the right direction.

Mr. Tarantilis also said that a very important parameter is the financial support that research teams need to protect the technology they have developed before commercializing it, as patenting is an extremely costly process – especially in in case research teams aim to target large markets, such as the US. In this context, he added, it would be useful to take into account the funding criteria for patents in large foreign technology transfer support structures, such as RAMOT in Israel and TUM in Germany.

He also referred to the need to introduce systematic training in the protection and exploitation of intellectual property, noting that in countries with developed innovation ecosystems of this type, education contains elements of a mandatory nature for PhD candidates.

At the invitation of the Chairman of the Committee, Dr. Prodromos Tsiavos, Director of Digital Development and Innovation of the Onassis Foundation and Chairman of the Supervisory Board of the European Academy of Industrial Property of the European Patent Office was invited to the podium, who analyzed in detail the members of the Committee on the protection and then answering questions.