Moscow, Russia -- On 17 July 2007, the European Patent Office and Rospatent (Russian Patent Office) marked the first step in a joint campaign to promote the use of patent information to stimulate competition, innovation and economic growth across Russia. Esp@cenet, the EPO’s online database which provides free access to millions of patent documents from around the world was also introduced to Rospatent as an important tool for patent innovation. “Russia is a great source of science and technology information” said Nina Formby, Project Leader at the EPO for the CIS and Mongolia.
Rospatent’s involvement in esp@cenet will ensure that Russian patents are easily accessible to foreign researchers and vice versa. Companies can use patent information to find commercial opportunities, design their R&D programme, look for new markets and find new partners or licensees. Meanwhile, researchers can quickly find information on the state-of-the-art in their field, identify new research challenges and find other researchers and industrial partners. Furthermore, while analysing patent information may reveal that an idea has already been patented, further digging may reveal gaps that remain unexploited.
Unfortunately, large numbers of researchers still fail to make use of this valuable source of information. 'Our researchers don't use patent information tools enough, and very often they are doing work without being aware of what is happening in the world,' said Rospatent Director General Boris Simonov. 'This lowers competitiveness.'
Also at the event, the Russian language version of the esp@cenet portal was launched. The Russian version of the training module is expected to go live later this year. The EPO and Rospatent first started working together more than a decade ago. Over the years the relationship has deepened and earlier this year the two organisations signed a Memorandum of Understanding which set out the scope of possible future common activities. This conference is the first major event to take place since the MoU was signed.
Contact: Meropi Yiasemis
ISC Intelligence in Science
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Email : Meropi.Yiasemis@iscintelligence.com
For more information on patent information, please visit:
Esp@cenet: www.espacenet.com ; http://ru.espacenet.com
Rospatent: www.fips.ru/ruptoen/index.htm
EPO : www.epo.org