This document is intended to
serve as a basis for discussion of the Working Group on Technological Innovation
(hereafter referred to as the "Working Group") under agenda item n°4 of the
present meeting. It has been prepared pursuant to a recommendation of the Second Meeting
of the Working Group.
The basic recommendation was
to prepare a study of six possible typical institutional arrangements (two from developing
countries, two from market-economy countries and two from Socialist countries). This
method was eventually abandoned and another approach was adopted because it appeared that
the institutions could be divided into three main categories:
industrial property offices, associations of inventors and other institutions having among
their tasks or having as their principal task the promotion of technological innovation.
It was necessary to examine these three categories of institutions in the three groups of countries.
Part of the contents of this
document is based on systematic interviews in two developing countries (Mexico and
Philippines), three market-economy countries (Germany (Federal Republic of), Sweden and
the United States of America) and two Socialist countries (German Democratic Republic and
the Soviet Union). Shorter interviews were held in Algeria, Australia, Norway and
Yugoslavia, with the responsible officers of six institutions in these four countries and
the International Federation of Inventors' Associations (IFIA). The study has also been
based on the results of the survey undertaken by the International Bureau of WIPO in 1980,
in view of the publication of a directory of associations of inventors, and a directory on
other institutions dealing with the promotion of innovation (see document WG/TI/III/2,
paragraphs 26 to 28).
The document is divided into
four parts. Part I notes certain basic and preliminary remarks, while the other parts
contain draft guidelines on each of the three categories of institutions.
PART I
PRELIMINARY OBSERVATIONS
When preparing this document,
the following conclusions adopted by the Working Group at its second meeting in 1979 and
noted in paragraph 15 of its report (WG/TI/II/5), were taken into account:
"(i) It is important to take into account existing
institutions in a country…"
"(ii)… Special attention should be given to appropriate links
and to coordination between all institutions and government services
concerned."
"(iii)Particular importance should be attached to the use of industrial
property offices to promote innovation, particularly when such Offices are the
only institutions, and industrial property offices should be established where they do not
already exist."
"(iv) Inventors should be encouraged to establish inventors'
associations."
The importance given to industrial
property offices in the above-mentioned conclusions of the working Group and in
this Study and Draft Guidelines, also corresponds to a recommendation adopted at the sixth
session (1979) of the WIPO Permanent Committee for Development Cooperation Related to
industrial Property (hereafter referred to as the "Permanent Committee"). The
Permanent Committee requested the International Bureau of WIPO to give high
priority to the preparation of a study on "activities that could be
undertaken by industrial property offices to promote innovation as well as the relations
that should be established with other government agencies having responsibilities in the
same field." (Document PC/IP/VI/1979/75, paragraph 33(I).
A repeated concern of the
Working Group, namely, that the accent should be put on the functions of
the institutions and not on their structure, is duly taken account of. In this respect,
the following principles were borne in mind.
(i) What is good for a country, whether developed or developing, may not be so for
another country, whether developed or developing. It is necessary to know the current
needs of each developing country and to take into account the particular social and
economic conditions prevailing in it, including the existence of certain institutions.
(ii) What is written in a law or decree may only be a wishful thinking; on the
other hand, certain practices may exist, particularly in developed countries, without
being codified or publicly know.
(iii) In certain countries, an institution may be 10, 50, or sometimes 100 years
old. The resulting experience cannot be readily transplanted into a completely new
institution.
It is believed that
institutions dealing, in developing countries, with the promotion of technological
innovation should work in the interest not only of inventors who have already obtained one
or more patents, but also of potential inventors and innovators. This means that::
(i) it is absolutely necessary to promote and encourage
inventive activity so that it can develop, and it is absolutely necessary to reward,
protect and assist the creators;
(ii) the activities of the institutions related to the period before actual
creativity are primordial, in particular all the activities that contribute to a better
creative climate;
(iii) it is necessary to encourage, without discrimination, all forms
of technological innovation and at any level, whether the innovation be a simple gadget
made for our daily use or a sophisticated invention of our nuclear age. However, it might
be advisable to provide supplementary incentives for creative activities in those
technological fields which are considered vital for the development of a country at a
certain stage;
(iv) it is important to have a clear policy as to the priorities according to the
various kinds of inventors and innovators. Should an institution dealing with the
promotion of technological innovation be primarily concerned with independent inventors or
employee inventors, and, in the latter case, those working in research institutes or
universities or industry?
PART II
INDUSTRIAL PROPERTY OFFICES
Introduction
Although the main and
traditional function of industrial property offices is to grant patents or other titles
for the protection of inventions, they are a logical institution to be entrusted with
other functions for encouraging and stimulating innovative activity. In several developed
countries, this is already the case.
It would seem that the more
industrial property offices become promoters of innovation, the more they get involved in
development problems and policies. The consequence will be that the government authorities
of the country will consider the industrial property office as an effective instrument of
national policy for science and technology and, therefore, will upgrade it to its
appropriate level in the general administration framework.
Functions and Activities
Industrial property offices
should establish, as their basic tools, inventories or lists of:
(i) national inventors (listed by name, profession, field of inventions etc.);
(ii) individuals who could be of assistance in public information activity
(journalists, university professors, etc.);
(iii) national institutions dealing with the promotion of innovation;
(iv) existing incentives.
Industrial property offices
should provide general information and publicity.
Many inventors, potential
innovators and other possible users (for example, engineers, researchers) of the
industrial property system know very little about their rights or about the services the
industrial property can provide them with. They many even ignore the existence of the said
office. It is the role of the industrial property office itself to rectify this situation.
And to do so it should undertake an active and permanent campaign of
publicity and general information. These are some of the means:
(i) brochures or leaflets on industrial property, including
information on the services the office can provide. These should be distributed to the
potential users, directly or through the other institutions or associations (for example,
associations of engineers);
(ii) lectures to be given in technical institutions, university
faculties, engineer and research workers associations, youth sciences clubs, etc.;
(iii) Technical fairs, particularly industrial
fairs. For such fairs, the industrial property office should distribute its publication,
have its own stand, and organize a section on inventions;
(iv) press and other mass media of communication (see paragraph 17
below).
Industrial property offices
should participate in the creation or modernization of the legislative texts offering
protection to inventions and innovations.
Any patent law should devote
special attention to the protection of inventions made by employees and
to the protection of the so-called small inventions, that is, inventions
where the technological requirements of legal protection are lesser than for patents or
inventors' certificates.
Furthermore, laws should
provide for the encouragement and rewarding of authors of "innovations",
in the strict sense of the term, that is, improvements, in particular new
solutions to technical problems existing in the enterprise in which the innovator works.
Furthermore, particularly in market-economy countries, a model of the
so-called "suggestion schemes" could be offered to private
enterprises. In developing countries with a centrally planned economy, the law
itself may provide for a system of remuneration and reward of the innovator (usually
called "rationalizor" in the Socialist countries) administrated by or under the
supervision of the industrial property office itself.
Industrial property offices
should contribute to the public recognition of the achievements of local inventors
and innovators, particularly through publicity in the media. Newspapers
should be provided with relevant information which too often is just dormant in the office
files. Industrial property offices should help in organizing television programs
introducing local inventors and innovators to a wider public. The industrial property
office naturally cannot focus on one or on some particular inventors, but it can provide
the media with the list of local inventors or with the most recent copies of its official
journal where local inventors are named.
Awards and Prizes
should be offered to local inventors and innovators by the government authorities as a
moral and material reward. The role of the industrial property office is to convince the
government authorities of the importance of such gestures. In some cases, the industrial
property office can itself offer such awards and prizes. This does not need to be done
every year, particularly where the number of inventors is small; it can be done, for
instance, on the occasion of an anniversary, such as the commemoration of the 10th or even
20th anniversary of the adoption of the national patent law. Prizes should not be given
only to inventors, but they should also reward the work of their promoters. In the United
States of America, the movement goes as far as rewarding the Congressmen who have been
active in proposing laws in favor of inventors. When an industrial property office happens
to have among its staff patent examiners, the latter could act as members of the jury in
contests organized by other institutions.
Any national patent office
should be equipped to help prospective applicants with general advice.
Naturally, such help cannot consist in drafting the application. But it should consist of
giving to the prospective applicants' forms to be used and explaining that, in most cases,
they should seek the advice of professionals for drafting and filing their applications.
Such general advice should
also be put into writing, in guides for the applicants in the form of
leaflets and brochures.
Industrial property offices
should prepare and submit studies to higher government authorities in which the state
of inventive and innovative activity in the country is analyzed. They should
report on the conditions that hamper inventive creativity and propose solutions which
could better the situation.
Where the industrial property
office has qualified examiners (engineers), such office should offer technical information
services from patent documents. The industrial property office does not necessarily have
to possess itself a collection of foreign patent documents. Its role can be limited to
being the link between those wishing to consult ("the users")
the patent documents and the sources of patent information and documentation.
Such users may be prospective
inventors and local industry looking for information for existing solutions to
technical problems. In other words, what such users need is to know what the
state of the art is. The state of the art is not only the starting point for all new
inventions but it is also essential in making decisions, in industry, as to what solution
should be adopted in any given case.
In some of the socialist
countries, the industrial property office is responsible for calling to the
attention of the industrial enterprises any new invention or innovation that
comes to the attention of such office and whose introduction by such enterprises appears
to be advantageous. Such activity could be very useful in developing countries but
naturally it requires a highly qualified technical staff.
In any given country, the
promotion of technological innovation is, characteristically, a task for which not only
the country's industrial property office is responsible. Usually, other governmental
institutions and associations of inventors also have a responsibility for the promotion of
innovation. It is indispensable that the tasks of the industrial property office, other
governmental institutions and associations of inventors, be coordinated and complementary,
and that they all cooperate with each other. More is said about such institutions and
associations in the subsequent parts of this document.
International Cooperation and Role of WIPO
Training of Staff.
The WIPO training program in the industrial property field should offer specialized
courses in the promotion of inventive activity, particularly for officials of developing
countries who will be handling public information matters in their industrial property
offices. Trainees should receive on-the-job training in such industrial property offices
of developed countries which perform special tasks for the promotion of technological
innovation.
Prizes, contests,
fairs. Activities have been initiated by WIPO since 1979, and proposals are made
to the present meeting of the Working Group. See document WG/III/", paragraphs 14 to
25.
Securing of protection.
WIPO could prepare:
(ii) a model brochure (with illustrations) on why and how to obtain patents or
other forms of protection for inventions in the inventor's own country;
(ii) guidelines on how to secure protection for inventions in foreign countries
other than the inventor's own country (see document WG/TI/III/2, paragraph 54).
Legislation.
WIPO is particularly active in this field. See document WG/TI/III/2, paragraph 51.
Special technical
information services: For several years, WIPO has been offering state-of-the-art
search reports to developing countries. Over 300 such reports have been given to
developing countries free of charge so far in 1980. The reports are prepared by the
industrial property offices of a new industrialized countries free of charge as a
contribution to development cooperation.
Some of the industrial
property offices of industrialized countries give, through WIPO, free of charge
collections of patent documents.
On the basis of a
recommendation of the WIPO Permanent Committee for Development Cooperation Related to
Industrial Property, studies by the International Bureau are under way for establishing
institutionalized international cooperation in the substantive examination of patent
applications. Such cooperation should be particularly beneficial to countries having
difficulties in staffing their industrial property office with sufficiently qualifies
patent examiners in the required number.
The revised text of the Paris
Convention is likely to contain a new Article (Article 12 bis) which will
provide for the furnishing of information by one industrial property office to the other,
information that should facilitate the work of substantive examination particularly in
developing countries.
The revised text of the Paris
Convention is likely to contain a new Article entitle "Development of Developing
Countries" which provides that the Paris Union shall endeavor to contribute to the
development of developing countries and that this effort shall bear in particular, among
other things, "on the encouragement of domestic inventive and innovative
activity" (Article 12 ter).
PART III
ASSOCIATIONS OF INVENTORS
Introduction
It is only natural that
associations of inventors should play a role in the promotion of technological innovation
in their respective countries. Their members are personally and directly concerned, and
one should expect - and hope - that they themselves become involved in the promotion of
technological innovation.
Unfortunately, however,
associations of inventors seem to exist only in some 25 countries, of which only five are
developing countries (Brazil, Cuba, Mexico, Philippines, Yugoslavia).
Not only new associations
should be created, but many of the existing and new associations seem to be in need of
assistance and support, for many associations of inventors face serious problems, mainly
due to financial difficulties. No wonder, therefore, that according to information
received when preparing this report, in three developing countries associations of
inventors have disappeared only a few years after their creation (Lebanon, in the sixties;
India and Zaire in the seventies).
However, there is a reason for
guarded optimism. The International Federation of Inventors' Associations (IFIA) was
created in 1968. Although its membership is presently limited to associations from eight
countries, of which only one is a developing country (the Philippines, since 1980), IFIA
is decidedly interested in the creation of few inventors' associations, including in
developing countries.
Types of Associations
There is no generally accepted
definition of what is meant by an association of inventors. One can, however, distinguish
two different concepts between market-economy and socialist countries, whether they be
developed or developing.
In market-economy
countries, the associations are primarily composed of inventors who hold patents.
Most of these members are independent inventors, and not employee inventors. They
represent only a small fraction of the total number of inventors in their country.
However, the membership of the associations is usually open to all individuals who adhere
to the aims of the associations: university professors, research workers, patent agents,
etc. Membership of such individuals is considered useful, for individual inventors cannot
survive alone: they need allies who can assist them through their technical abilities,
language knowledge, and political relations.
In addition to inventors and
individual members, some associations admit as members also industrial enterprises and
business companies. Such a system is considered useful for several reasons: it offers
inventors the opportunity to meet with representatives of industry and business, it
increases the power and influence of the association and, last but not least, it adds
financial resources to the association.
These mixed associations of
inventors are therefore composed of at least two separate categories of members.
Individual members are sometimes called "regular" members, while enterprises and
companies are called, for instance, "associate" members. In addition, all
associations have donor and honorary members. Individual inventors usually try to keep a
majority voice in such associations.
The total membership of
associations of inventors in market-economy countries is relatively low. For instance, in
the Western European countries, the largest association is the one in the United Kingdom
with some 1,200 members, while the oldest association, the one in Sweden (created in
1896), has some 760 members. In the Philippines, the association has some 120 members.
In several countries, there
exist more than one association.
In Socialist countries,
the associations are usually composed of innovators (sometimes called
"rationalizors") organized at the enterprise level. The total number of the
members is correspondingly high. These associations are sometimes also open to all
potential innovators as well as to supporters of the idea of promoting inventive activity,
so that they become mass organizations, with many thousands of members. Where they are
such mass organizations, they do not seem to have any financial difficulties.
It should be noted that the
associations in some of the Socialist countries are of a recent date, for example the one
in the Soviet Union was created in 1958. It is to be noted also that in the majority of
the Socialist countries, associations of inventors, as such, do not exist, and their
functions are performed by other professional and mass organizations, such as associations
and/or trade unions of engineers, technology researchers, etc. Such associations and trade
unions usually have established a special body (committee or commission) and a permanent
staff in order to deal with all the questions related to inventors, rationalizors,
innovators, and to the promotions of their creations.
Functions and Activities
Like any
"professional" association, inventors' associations have a basic function which
is to gather the inventors, establish a link between them, and allow exchanges of ideas
between the inventors members and any other members of the Association. Associations have
also other functions. Some are of general interest, while others are mainly of interest to
the inventor members. All these functions are examined below. Naturally, in practice,
associations of inventors will only be able to realize some of the said functions.
As far as the promotion
of innovation in the country and protection of the interests of inventors in general
are concerned, an association of inventors may have the following functions:
(i) to enhance the development of innovation among the people at
large. This is done, for instance, by encouraging the organization of creative societies
and clubs among youth, and by supporting their activities;
(ii) to foster greater public awareness of the socio-economic
benefits the country can derive from innovation. This is done by underlining the role
inventors can play in increasing the quality of people's life. For these activities,
associations should mainly use the mass media;
(iii) to improve the inventors' image. It is unfortunate that so
many people look at inventors as "crackpots" and associate them with unimportant
silly inventions. In developed countries, some invention fairs and exhibitions have, in
fact, contributed to this negative image. Therefore, one should consult inventors'
associations in the organization of these fairs. Inventors' associations should indeed
encourage their members to come up with inventions of real interest that contribute to the
development of their country;
(iv) to assure the public recognition of the merits of inventors,
in particular through awards and prizes;
(v) to arise interest from, and to secure cooperation of,
other circles, by establishing a dialogue between inventors and
representatives of engineers, scientists and researchers' associations, as well as with
representatives of industry;
(vi) to study draft laws, propose new texts and amendments in
favor of the promotion of innovation and innovators;
(vii) to make representations to the government authorities on
behalf of the members of the association, concerning legislation and policies affecting
the promotion of technological innovation and the protection of the innovator;
(viii) to support the government authorities in all their
activities related to the promotion of national innovation and innovators. For instance,
the association could contribute to the preparation of the laws and to their
implementation, have some of its members among the judges when invention contests are
organized by government institutions;
(ix) to promote relations with similar foreign associations,
directly and through the international Federation of Inventors' Associations (IFIA).
As far as services to
individual members are concerned, the following may be noted.
Services to individual
inventor members are a necessity in order to attract inventors and to avoid their future
withdrawal from the association. Inventors are individualists and expect a return from the
association.
Some services mentioned in the
statues of the associations seem to be realistic. Such services include:
(i) to provide general and educational information, by organizing lectures and
seminars, distributing brochures and /or bulletins;
(ii) to inform members on where they can obtain advice and services for their legal
protection;
(iii) to act as an "ombudsman" vis-à-vis authorities where a member
considers that he was not treated correctly, for example, by the industrial property
office.
Some services mentioned in the
statues of several associations seem to be less realistic, mainly in view of the very
limited financial possibilities of such associations. State institutions may be in a
better position, at least in developing countries, to render such services (see Parts II
and IV). Examples of such services are the following:
(i) to give legal advice;
(ii) to give expert opinion and technical advice. For instance, some associations
offer one free of charge consultation per year and per member in licensing matters, others
offer to undertake one search-of-the-art per year free of charge per member;
(iii) to put the inventor in touch with industrial enterprises and financial
institutions (for example, by providing members with letters of introductions);
(iv) to grant financial assistance.
Relations with the Government and Other Organizations
Any national inventors'
association should try to persuade the Government that the country needs inventors in
order to increase the country's self-reliance in technological matters. Consequently, it
is in the interest of the country as a whole that there be close collaboration between the
association and the authorities. Such collaboration may consist, for instance, in
channeling the efforts of inventors towards government projects, such as homebuilding,
roads or power, conforming to the country's customs and adapted to its resources.
Governments should assist in
the creation of inventors' associations. A very recent example in point comes from the
United States of America. In that country, the Office of Energy-Related Inventions
(National Bureau of Standards, Department [=Ministry] of Commerce) is presently the main
initiator and financial supporter of a movement concerned with the creation of a
"National Congress of Inventor Organizations" ((NCIO), which should bring under
the same umbrella more than 20 inventors' associations scattered all over the United
States of America.
Here are a few ways in which
government may assist inventors' associations:
(i) by giving assistance for the creation of one or more
inventors' associations, the government could encourage and assist a few better known
inventors, who, in turn, would bring together other inventors. The assistance could
consist in compiling a list of inventors in the country as well as in giving some
practical facilities, such as a meeting place, an office and office equipment;
(ii) by financing at least part of the budget of the association.
This is a must, particularly in developing countries, for the members of the associations
are generally few and can hardly afford to pay membership fees whose amount would be more
than a symbolic amount. This is a practice which has already been adopted by several
governments. Some offer direct financing, through the main government institutions dealing
with the promotion of innovation, for example, in the Scandinavian countries. In Sweden,
the amount reached 200,000 US dollars in 1980. In the Soviet Union, the All-Union Society
of Inventors and Rationalizators (VOIR) receives 0,3% of the total savings accumulated
from the exploitation of inventions in the enterprises of that country. In two very
different developing countries, the industrial property office, or another government
institution responsible for the promotion of innovation, are offering indirect financial
assistance to the national association of inventors by putting at the disposal of its
secretariat staff (Yugoslavia) and/or premises (Philippines);
(iii) by giving moral support to the association. The heads of
industrial property offices and other government institutions dealing with the promotion
of innovation should offer, whenever possible, their moral support to the association of
inventors, for example, by attending the more formal meetings of the association, opening
its exhibitions, giving lectures, etc. The Scandinavian countries practice a two way
representation: a representative of the inventors' association is a member of the board of
the industrial property office and of the main government institution dealing with the
promotion of innovation, and a government member of the said Board and institution is a
member of the Board of the Association. In the Soviet Union, a Deputy Chairman of the
State Office for Inventions and Discoveries is a member of the Board of the All-Union
Society of Inventors and Rationalizators. (VOIR).
Associations of inventors'
should cooperate with other professional associations interested in
technological achievements, such as associations of engineers and scientists. They should
also cooperate with the trade unions of workers in the technological
field, particularly in order to promote the interests of employee inventors.
Associations of inventors
should also cooperate with business organizations, such as chambers of
commerce and industry, private institutions for the economic development of the country,
etc. Such organizations should provide the inventors' associations with financial support
for the award of prizes, cash or other.
International Cooperation and the Role of WIPO
WIPO already acts as a clearing
house for information on associations of inventors. It has just prepared a
Directory of Associations of Inventors (first edition: September 1980).
WIPO could keep up to date the
said Directory and could:
(i) collect and disseminate the texts of the statutes of existing
associations. These could serve as a source of inspiration for future associations of
inventors;
(ii) collect and disseminate studies on, and by, the most active
associations. These could serve as a source of inspiration both for other existing, and
for future, associations of inventors;
(iii) organize the training of secretaries of associations already
existing or in the process of being created. The training itself should take place mainly
in existing associations of inventors with a wide range of experience (see paragraph 46,
document WG/TI/III/2);
(iv) assist the International Federation of Inventors' Associations
(IFIA) in its activities of particular interest to developing countries. By encouraging
the creation and development of inventors' associations in developing countries, IFIA as
such would also obtain some advantages: the number of its members would increase and, as a
consequence, IFIA's influence power would increase too.
PART IV
OTHER INSTITUTIONS DEALING WITH PROMOTION OF TECHNOLOGICAL INNOVATION
Existing Institutions
As already stated, it is not
only the industrial property office of a country and the inventors' association or
associations of that country but also other governmental institutions and non-governmental
organizations that deal or should deal with the promotion of technological innovation in
the said country. Mention was made of professional associations of engineers and
scientists, trade unions, universities, chambers of commerce or industry and youth clubs.
Specific examples of such
governmental institutions are the following:
(i) in France, there is the "Agence national de valorisation de la
recherche", abbreviated "ANVAR";
(ii) in India, there is the National Research Development Corporation of India;
(iii) in Norway, there is the Norwegian Government Consultative Office for
Inventors;
(iv) in the Philippines, there is the Philippines Inventors Commission, created in
1964;
(v) in Sweden, there is the Swedish National Board for Technical Development,
abbreviated "STU";
(vi) in the United Kingdom, there is the National Research Development corporation,
abbreviated "NRDC".
Many developing countries
have, under various names, councils for scientific and technological (or
industrial) research. Some of then already have tasks in the field of the
promotion of technological innovation. For example:
(i) in India, there is the Council of Scientific and Industrial Research,
abbreviated "CSIR", and
(ii) in Mexico, there is the Consejo Nacional de Ciencia y Tecnologia (Nacional
Council of Science and Technology), abbreviated "CONACYT".
In the Federal Republic of
Germany, there is an institution which seems to be unique of its kind. It is called
"Garching Instrumente", it is located in Munich and is the creation of the
Max-Planck Gesellschaft (which, in the Federal Republic of Germany, plays the role of a
national academy of sciences). The task of the Garching Instrumente is to deal with the
patenting and licensing of the inventions of the some 2,000 researchers who work in the
over 40 specialized research institutions of the Max-Planck Gesellschaft.
Model of an Agency of a Developing Country
It would seem that in most
developing countries the most effective instrumentality for the promotion of technological
innovation would be a governmental agency either created solely for such purpose or
having, among other responsibilities concerning the industrialization of the country, the
task of promotion of technological innovation.
Such an agency should be
governmental. Rapid industrialization is one of the main economic goals of most
governments in developing countries. It is, therefore, logical that the government should
organize and maintain the instrumentality - the agency in question - that should directly
and efficiently contribute, through the promotion of technological innovation, to such
industrialization.
Such an agency seems to be
needed even in most of the developing countries which have industrial property offices
having certain tasks in the field of the promotion of technological innovation. This is so
because governments are likely to consider that the main task of an industrial property
office is to grant patents and, consequently, may not give to the industrial property
office all the powers and means which it would need to perform what would then be
considered the secondary tasks of promoting technological innovation.
Furthermore, such an agency
seems to be needed even in countries which have one or more inventors' associations. This
is so because inventors' associations are likely - and naturally so - to consider as their
principal task the promotion of the interests of their individual members rather than the
general public interest, namely the rapid industrialization and the maximum possible
degree of technological self-reliance of the country.
In the following, an attempt
will be made top outline the possible model of such an agency which will hereafter be
called the Agency.
Creation of a
favorable climate for inventive activity. In a developing country, the creation
of such a climate should be one of the main functions of the Agency. For the realization
of this goal, the efforts of as many institutions as possible should be used. There is no
harm in multiplying the institutions pursuing this goal. But the Agency should play the
leading role. Among the means to attain this goal, particular attention should be given to
the youth. Youth people should be strongly encouraged to submit new and useful
technological ideas, on the occasion of contests in creativity, and should be rewarded
with cash prizes and medals. The Agency should support such contests, when they already
exist, or should assist in their organization, if they do not exist already. The Agency
should also assist in the creation of what is sometimes called "youth science
clubs". Another means consists in making known to the general public the achievements
of national inventors so that a general respect for creative activity should result in all
spheres of society.
Technical education
and training of potential inventors. The agency should promote the technical
education of potential inventors. Technical schools and science and engineering faculties
should offer courses on the various aspects of inventions and innovative activities,
including the advantages of patenting inventions. Some of the creative minds need a more
solid technological education.
Encouraging potential
inventors to create inventions particularly useful to the country. The major
needs of the country and its people (housing, agriculture, health, etc.) are endless
challenges for inventors and innovators. The Agency should identify those needs and
encourage independent inventors to create appropriate technologies. It should also
convince the country' industry, consumers, as well as the Government, of the importance of
supporting creative activities of their nationals in selected fields of technology. It
should convince the Government to launch major creative projects (for example for
solutions to problems of energy or housing) which would galvanize researchers and
potential inventors.
Assistance in
patenting. Such assistance should be of a legal, technical and financial nature.
The agency would have to examine the inventions which are submitted to it by local
individual inventors to advise the latter on the chances of the patentability of such
inventions; it would have to assist in the preparation of the patent applications of such
inventors and in the filing of the corresponding patent applications; it should offer,
where needed, to pay the applications fees and even the annual renewal fees; it should,
whenever necessary, protect the secured patents from infringement.
Assistance after
patenting. It is well known that a patented invention is rarely used by industry
without further development. Identifying the enterprises which my be interested in the
invention is a difficult task for most individual inventors. Persuading such enterprises
to use the invention and concluding with them an equitable bargain are even more difficult
tasks for the individual inventor. The Agency should assist the local inventor in all
these tasks.
International Cooperation and Role of WIPO
Directory of
Institutions. WIPO has initiated in 1980 a worldwide survey of institutions
dealing with the promotion of technological innovation. A corresponding Directory will be
published. See document WG/TI/III/2, paragraphs 26 to 28. The Directory could be kept up
to date by WIPO.
Cooperation Among
Developing Countries. WIPO has initiated activities in this respect and intends
to further encourage cooperation among developing countries. See document WG/TI/III/2,
paragraphs 31 to 33.
Cooperation Between
Developed and Developing Countries. WIPO could, with the assistance of
appropriate institutions in developed countries, organize study, visits and training for
officials or prospective officials of corresponding institutions in developing countries,
where such institutions already exist or where the creation of such institutions is
contemplated.
Other Assistance.
Several of the possible activities indicated above in connection with the industrial
property offices and inventors' associations could be carried out also for the purposes of
a national agency of the kind described in this Part of the present document.
