Evaluation of IP as a basis for proposing a long-term sustainable state aid model to promote science-business cooperation

There is a lack of experience and knowledge in Slovenia about the types of IP, the time of IP formation, the process of IP registration, the IP ownership, possibilities of IP protection and transfer of IP referring to the type of contractual cooperation and its financing. Therefore, we will quantitatively and qualitatively analyze the critical points of IP rights (IPR) transfer and prepare guidelines for the IPR management in collaborative R&D projects based on data from national databases, reports of ministries and agencies, business stories, existing financial incentives, tax incentives for R&D investments, IP legislation.

Lead partner

Institut "Jožef Stefan"

Project Manager

prof. dr. Borka Džonova Jerman Blažič

Project partners
  • University of Primorska, Faculty of Management, izr. prof. dr. Jana Hojnik
Project number

V7-2145

Duration

1. 9. 2021 – 31. 8. 2022

The project's objectives 

Basic research aims to discover the basis for long-term benefits for humanity. More applied areas of research are by their nature intended for faster transfer to practical use, but the time of development to the practical application of research results varies greatly depending on the industry, from the average relatively short cycle of a few months e.g. information and communication technologies up to decades in e.g. biotechnology or pharmacy. Society funds research activities in public research organizations (PROs) through governmental tax and research-innovation policy, thus regardless of the nature of research and the field of research, it expects short-term or long-term practical benefits from funded activities. As a country we operate in the global competitive environment wherein the technological development is one of the few competitive levers, capable of indirect creation of added value. The Slovenian, and other economies, generally do not have enough knowledge and capital to develop the necessary technological breakthroughs needed for market dominance at any time, therefore remaining in the field of technological improvements and development of medium demanding technologies. The activities of the economy in the field of high technology rare given the relatively high price of labor in Slovenia in light of the competitive situation on the global market. The performance of the transfer of knowledge and technologies from PRO to application use is important for the operation of the entire cycle. The state tries to encourage such (co)operation with financial incentives. Still, at the same time, it encounters rules and legislation for the protection of competition on the free market. The regulations restrict or allow the granting of such aid within substantive exceptions (e.g. particular importance for development), or special conditions (advance notification of state aid to the EC and its consent), or in a simplified form up to a certain amount (de-minimis rule). Research and development (R&D) collaborations involve the transfer of intellectual property (IP) between partners. There is a lack of experience and knowledge in Slovenia about the types of IP, the time of IP formation, the process of IP registration, the IP ownership, possibilities of IP protection and transfer of IP referring to the type of contractual cooperation and its financing. Therefore, we will quantitatively and qualitatively analyze the critical points of IP rights (IPR) transfer and prepare guidelines for the IPR management in collaborative R&D projects based on data from national databases, reports of ministries and agencies, business stories, existing financial incentives, tax incentives for R&D investments, IP legislation etc. in parallel with interviews, questionnaires and meetings with relevant stakeholders. Managing IP is specific also in the field of accounting, so we will prepare an international comparative review of systems for valuing the market value of IP rights in collaborative projects and a comprehensive process of detection, registration of IP as an intangible asset, IP valuation and propose articles for relevant cooperation agreements according to methods, times, types of financing, considering the IP valuation and transfer between partners, which will contribute to long-term sustainable model of state aids. A properly evaluated IP is the basis for appropriate design of measures from the cohesion policy funds (European Regional Development Fund - ERDF, European Social Fund - ESF and Cohesion Fund) and reporting the received state aid by the business entities. We will prepare an international comparative review of the regulation of the state aid system and a proposal for a sustainable system of the state aid system and the changes, which should be implemented in order to achieve more effective cooperation in the innovation helix.

Keywords

Intellectual property, research and development, technology transfer, intellectual property valuation, intangible assets, state subsidies, state aid.

Project phases
  1. Phase INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY IN RR COLLABORATIVE PROJECTS; Analysis of methodologies, mechanisms and results of knowledge transfer from the research sphere to the economy and preparation of guidelines to ensure long-term partnership between JRO and the economy
  2. Phase STATE AID IN COLLABORATIVE R&D PROJECTS: Overview of the situation, creation of the national and proposals for improvements of the EU system of state aid in collaborative research and development (R&D) projects of companies and research organizations
Bibliographical references
Links
Funding

The project Evaluation of IP as a basis for the proposal of a long-term sustainable model of state aids for the promotion of cooperation between science and business No V7-2145 is co-financed by the Slovenian Research Agency (ARRS) and the Ministry of Higher Education, Science and Innovation from the state budget in the amount of EUR 100,000.00.

Wednesday, September 1, 2021 | FM

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