Joint LESI-EPO training course for SMEs on technology commercialisation

Licensing Executives Society International (LESI) and the European Patent Office (EPO) have launched a jointly developed two-day training course, "Succeeding at technology commercialisation and negotiation" to be held in Basel, Switzerland from 26 to 28 June.

The Basel training course, the first of the series, gives a comprehensive, professional set of tools and techniques to help businesses to profit from their IP and to put it at the heart of their business strategy in a way that is easy to access and implement. It is designed for intellectual capital and business development managers as well as entre- and intrapreneurs with great ideas who are looking to perform at the top level. The course will cater for a wide-reaching range of business professionals, including those coming from SMEs, start-ups, spin-outs, emerging enterprises, MNCs, technology transfer and research organisations and their advisors.

The training materials, jointly developed by LESI and EPO's European Patent Academy,  serve the purpose of furthering innovation across the globe.

Martin Schneider from LES Switzerland, who has led the effort on behalf of LESI, expressed his satisfaction with the outcome. "It has been a fantastic experience to develop, together with our peers at European Patent Academy, a powerful and advanced training tool for technology commercialisation and negotiation. LES Switzerland is proud to be chosen as the national LES society to collaborate in organising the course and to give its first performance."

There is a strong interest in these jointly developed courses. LES China is sending a delegation of 10 IP experts to attend the first event in Basel. The second training course is expected to be delivered in Istanbul in October 2019 and will eventually be offered globally, leveraging LESI's worldwide reach and its 10 000 members across 33 national societies. Omer Hiziroglu, LES Turkey, believes that the course will benefit SMEs. "We are delighted to be organising this course in Istanbul. The sophisticated content of the materials will increase awareness of technology focused SMEs in the country and as LES Turkey we love being part of this global effort."

The Licensing Executives Society International (LESI) is a not-for-profit association of 33 national and regional Member Societies comprised of men and women who have an interest in the transfer of technology, or licensing of intellectual property rights - from technical know-how and patented inventions to software, copyright and trademarks.  It is strictly non-political and is free to grow by the creation of member societies throughout the world irrespective of politics or the state of technology development.

The European Patent Office (EPO) was set up in 1973. It is the largest regional patent office in the world and applies a uniform procedure to examine patent applications in any of its three official languages (English, French and German). It enables inventors, companies and researchers to protect their inventions in up to 40 European countries, covering a market of some 700 million people. European patents can also be validated in four more countries, namely Morocco, the Republic of Moldova, Tunisia and Cambodia.

To register for the Basel course:
https://www.epo.org/learning-events/events/search/details.html?eventid=13755

EPO and LESI Memorandum of understanding on bilateral co-operation
https://www.epo.org/news-issues/news/2019/20190208.html