Campus and Community

IP Talks@Técnico captivated dozens of participants

Another “IP Talks @ Técnico” session took place this Wednesday, February 17, aiming to reinforce knowledge and to clarify Técnico community about Intellectual Property. The event took place via Zoom and brought together more than 80 participants, including MSc and PhD students, researchers and faculty.

Patrícia Lima, coordinator of the Intellectual Property Unit at Técnico (NPI), conducted the session and answered several questions.

The Vice president of Técnico for Operations and Enterprise Relationships, professor Pedro Amaral, highlighted the importance of patents and reinforced the importance of this event, which aims to challenge participants “to think strategically and thoughtfully about patents”, in order “to better understand some aspects and reinforce some ideas”. The vice-president of Técnico stressed that patents are not a scientific paper, they must have a purpose, and reiterated the importance of “protecting our inventions so that we can enjoy due rights”.

The NPI coordinator explained the difference between patents and utility models, and helped the participants to understand what are the requirements for patentability: novelty, inventive step and industrial applicability. “Patents are not scientific papers, they have a purpose, which is to be commercially exploitable. Basically, the object of the invention has to be able to be produced or used in any type of industry”.

Patrícia Lima referred that this is a laborious process that can take a long time, and that no invention should be disclosed to the public, in any form or by any means, prior to filing a patent application or a utility model application. The NPI coordinator also addressed the issue of patent holders’ rights and benefits, and gave some advice on how to write a patent application.