Looking to protect your intellectual property?
When you create a new idea, invention or innovation, you should always consider whether to obtain protection for your intellectual property. It does not happen on its own.
New ideas are born, for example, as a result of research or thesis projects and simply when talking amongst friends. Ideas are usually conceived by identifying a problem in an existing solution and resolving this problem by developing a new solution.
When you come up with a new way to resolve a problem, you will have created an idea. Once you put your idea into practice and test it, you will have created an invention. If your invention adds value into people’s lives, you will have created an innovation.
More practical instructions for managing innovations are provided below. The legal aspect of innovation management is no laughing matter, so we are just going to give you the dry facts.
If inventions are published as part of a scientific paper or a thesis, they can no longer be patented in case the publication occurred before the patent application was filed. You must be especially careful with the publication of research results that are created in the context of university-industry collaboration to ensure that the patent-related obligations set forth in the partner agreement are not breached.
The owner of intellectual property rights is the person entitled to commercially exploit the intellectual property (IP). The multiple ways to protect IP can be combined to ensure strong IP protection. As generally there are costs associated with protecting your IP, you should carefully consider whether and how to obtain IP protection. When planning to protect your IP, you must consider how you will protect and utilise your IP, the resources at your disposal, and the schedule of the IP protection process.
With legal questions, you can contact Tampere University’s Innovation Services at inventions@tuni.fi.
When you need help with refining your idea, contact the HUBS Sparring Clinic!