Encouraging protection of public research results in Spain

Abstract

Although one of the goals of research at universities and public research bodies is to contribute to the advancement of knowledge, these bodies are also expected to contribute to the innovations being developed in their own respective national or regional systems. The only way to satisfy both the industrial application of scientific results and their necessary dissemination throughout the scientific community at the same time is to previously protect the research activity under the various systems of industrial and intellectual property rights. Unfortunately, this precautionary step is quite uncommon amongst research groups in many countries, and specific action is therefore required of their umbrella institutions in order to ensure that such protection is implemented in an effective way. This article describes results of the experience since 1986 to promote the industrial protection of research at Spanish universities. To achieve this goal, a range of science policy initiatives were undertaken: training in processing patents for technicians involved in universities interface structures, cooperation with the Spanish Patents Office and other related bodies, encouragement for research groups to ensure the industrial protection of their results and support for researchers and public bodies in the patent registration procedure.