If your work has given resulted in an innovation that could be useful to society, and if you believe it has commercial potential, please contact us before publishing your results. Once the details of an innovation are made public, it may no longer be possible to protect them.
You will be contacted so that we can jointly determine the best way to protect and safeguard your innovation. We accompany the protection processes from start and work to valorize and license your results.
Yes, but it is important that you make UC Business aware of all the documentation required for this agreement before it is issued. This documentation usually includes a Material Transfer Agreement (MTA), which can contain very restrictive clauses for researchers, which may influence the ownership and licensing rights of subsequent research results, so it is important that it is evaluated by experts before it is signed.
Technology assessment may be carried out internally by UC Business employees and/or with recourse to Technology Brokers (external professional entities that provide services to the University in performing these tasks). The evaluation involves determining the novelty of the invention, the potential products or services that can be created with the invented technology, and the size of the potential market, both in terms of size and growth rate. The time and investment required to bring the technology to market, as well as existing competitors/substitutes will also be taken into account.
A Technology Broker is a facilitator of the Technology Transfer process that supports the activities inherent to Innovation Management, such as the one carried out in UC Business. These Technology Brokers with whom the University of Coimbra collaborates usually work in specific areas and know very well the state of the art and the people operating in the business environment. They have, therefore, a great notion of the probability of a specific technology succeeding in this process.
The Innovation Disclosure Form (IDF) is a confidential document that formalizes the communication of the innovation to UC Business, while allowing our team to obtain information necessary for the process of commercialization of the technology.
This form requests a description of your innovation/creation, information regarding any collaboration with entities outside the University of Coimbra, financial support that may have been granted, disclosure of the technology already made, a list of inventors/creators and other important elements to determine the most efficient form of protection, marketing and technological valorization.
Fill out the form here.
Intellectual Property includes Industrial Property, Copyright and Neighbouring Rights and confers the right to the exclusive use of the respective artistic, technical, commercial and/or industrial creation. Industrial Property aims to protect inventions, aesthetic creations (design, for example), and signs used to distinguish products and companies in the marketplace; while Copyright aims to protect literary and artistic works.
An invention patent (art. 51 and ss CPI) is a title, valid in a certain territory and for a certain period of time, which grants an exclusive right to exploit an invention. This right is granted by a state, through an administrative entity, which in Portugal is the Portuguese Institute of Industrial Property (INPI), which is responsible for verifying that the invention meets the conditions, positive and negative, on which the law makes such concession depend.
An invention is a technical solution to solve a specific problem. It may be a new product, a new process to obtain an already known product, or, in certain cases, a new use of this product.
In return for the exclusive economic exploitation of an invention, shielding the holder from competition for a certain period of time, the payment of certain fees is required, as well as the disclosure of all the technical information that allows the invention to be reproduced. The forfeiture of the right entails making the technical material of the invention available to the public.
Research and Development for the development of new products/services often requires large investments and carries high risks. Companies only invest in technology of this nature when protection against appropriation of the technology by competitors is assured. The protection afforded, by a patent, for example, is a valuable and indispensable instrument for making an invention a profitable investment.
A patent is valid for a limited period of time (usually 20 years). Its protection, although significantly stronger, is therefore temporary and depends on the legislation issued by the entities responsible for granting the right. Once the patent title expires, the invention belongs to the Public Domain, and since all technical information necessary for reproduction of the invention has been published, it becomes available for free reproduction and use. The industrial secret, on the other hand, does not grant any official title of protection, and depends on the rules of the institution and the people who deal with it.
It is a simpler, easier and more affordable way of securing protection prior to the definitive application.
UC Business will advise which is the best method to use, after filling out the Innovation Communication Form (IDF).
A PPA may be a document in Portuguese or English that sufficiently describes the invention (for example, a scientific article). This document will have to show all the technical characteristics that will later be claimed in the definitive application and describe the invention in a manner that allows its execution by any person competent in the matter. At the time of conversion, matter can be removed from the patent application, but can never be added to it in such a way that it contains technical matter that exceeds
The provisional patent application is a form of patent application that allows establishing immediately the priority of the protection and without major formal requirements, compared to the definitive patent application. It allows the formalization of a definitive patent application to be postponed up to a maximum of 12 months, and ensures the confidentiality of the invention (the provisional application is not published in the year of submission). It should be used when there is little time to prepare a definitive patent application, due to the need for an imminent disclosure of the invention, or little time to assess the commercialization potential of the invention.
- Discoveries, scientific theories and mathematical methods;
- Materials or substances already existing in nature and nuclear materials;
- Aesthetic creations;
- Projects, principles and methods of the exercise of intellectual activities in gaming or in the field of economic activities;
- Computer programs, as such, without any technical contribution;
- Information presentations.
The requirements of a patent application concession are: novelty, inventive activity and industrial application.
To meet the novelty requirement it is necessary that the invention is not part of the state of the art by the date of the application, inside or outside the country, disclosed or made accessible to the public by any means.
An invention involves inventive activity if, taking into account the state of the art, it is not obvious to an expert in the technical field in question.
In order to have an industrial application, it is necessary that its object can be manufactured
No. Once the period of validity has expired, or in the case of non-payment of any annuity, or resignation of the holder, the holder's rights cease, and the invention becomes public domain, meaning that anyone can use it freely.
Yes. Patent request grants the applicant with provisory/temporary protection, based on the relevant publication in "Boletim da Propriedade Industrial", identical to the one assigned by granting of rights, to be taken into account in case of compensation. Until the application is granted, the applicant is granted an "expectation of right" that will only be confirmed if he obtains the patent. When the patent application is granted, and if the competitor insists on the unfair practice, the owner may trigger a lawsuit for damages, which can be counted from the date of publication of the patent. In this case, the early publication is useful for the purpose of determining this date.
The Patent is only valid in the national territory where it is applied for and granted (principle enshrined by the Paris Union Convention - CUP).
The patent application may be filed directly in the country where protection is sought, this being the national route. The concession is the responsibility of the respective national authority and is the advisable route when protection is sought in a small number of countries. You can also choose the European route, in which the request is made to the European Pattent Office, which is responsible for granting or refusing it. It is the advisable route when you want protection in several European countries contracting the European Patent. To simplify this procedure you can also opt for the system via PCT (Patent Cooperation Treaty) in which, from an initial filing in a member country of the PCT, the countries chosen to apply for the patent are designated. It is a way of making an application in which the grant is made by each State. It is the advisable route when protection is sought in several countries within and outside Europe.
Patents do not prevent the disclosure of research results in the form of articles. The provisional patent application is a simple, easy and affordable way to allow the public disclosure of the invention simultaneous to the filing of a patent application.
The publication cancels the patent, the patent does not cancel the publication.
The structure of a patent application is composed by the title, abstract, description, claims and drawings or figures, if necessary.
The title should identify the subject matter of the patent without using fancy expressions or reference to trademarks.
The abstract is a concise summary of what is set out in the description, claims and drawings. It should preferably not contain more than 150 words.
The description is the part where the detailed description of the invention is made and its confrontation with the prior art and the demonstration of the preferred applications of the invention.
The claims define the object of protection required, in terms of technical characteristics of the invention. They should be based on the description and drawings.
Drawings or figures may be necessary for a better interpretation of the invention.
In general, inventors are considered to be those who contribute to the inventive step of the technology/invention, i.e., by solving some question or contributing to the solution of problems associated with the invention. The Holder of a patent is the owner of the invention, on behalf of whom the patent is granted. The figure of the inventor and the holder may coincide.
Mere performance of activities under the inventor(s)' instructions is not considered a significant intellectual contribution. Naming the inventor(s) differs from naming the authors of a scientific paper, where it is common to list all authors in the paper.
For more information, click here, and also see the following document: European IPR Helpdesk Fact Sheet Inventorship, Authorship and Ownership.