The European Patent Office’s Tech Day 2022

The European Patent Office’s Tech Day 2022 was held online yesterday and covered various topics, such as green technologies, plant-based meat and new-generation vaccines. Coming from a mechanical engineering background, I was particularly keen to tune in to the green-tech sessions, which I found very informative. 

It was interesting to note that patenting trends are showing a significant increase in innovation around green tech while innovation around fossil-fuel production is decreasing for the first time since WW2.  It was also insightful to hear from sustainability-driven, start-up entrepreneur, Jane ni Dhulchaointigh, who invented a mouldable glue (sold under the trade name Sugru), who reflected on the importance of having robust IP protection in place. She also reflected on the challenging stage in the patent process, which patent applicants commonly face, of having to select which countries to protect your invention in before you know how strong the market for your product will be in that country.

Additionally, it was interesting to hear from industry leaders on how they are trying to strike the right balance between protecting their innovations (which often result after significant R&D investments) and sharing their knowledge with others in the industry to help accelerate progress towards reaching net zero – with some calling for more collaboration and less competition.