The integration of the Acceding and Candidate Countries (ACCs) started in 1999 with their involvement in FP5. A number of significant results have been achieved. Over 4 years, the number of participants has dynamically increased. There was a successful call for the development of Centres of Excellence in ACCs. A number of specific measures, such as NAS1 and NAS2 calls in 2001 have contributed to the general success of integration. In Poland, as a result of the European evaluation, a system of 157 Centres of Excellence ha been established. Of great importance to the proper preparation of the implementation of Structural Funds was the participation...
The European Union aims to become the most competitive knowledge economy by 2010; innovation has therefore become crucial for increasing competitiveness. In this context, Euro Info Centres have proved sensitive to innovative and technological issues concerning SMEs so as to combine traditional tasks with an openness towards innovation...
The rules for participation in the sixth framework program (2321/2002 Regulation, hereafter "the participation rules") impose certain obligations on the participants in a supported action...
There is a well-established need for an insurance scheme that would provide owners of European patents with the financial means to enforce their patents against infringers in a court of law. A conservative estimate puts the value of such a scheme at 10% of the collective value of a country's patent portfolio. For the European Union, the scheme promises...
'The Commission is proposing the objective that all students in science, engineering or business studies receive at least basic training on intellectual property and technology transfer'. So said EU Research Commissioner Philippe Busquin at the opening of PATLIB 2003 in May. He was referring to the Commission's action plan, which promotes protection...
In general, the Community trademark system has responded satisfactorily to users' expectations: it has already enabled more than 200,000 companies to obtain, by means of registration with the Office for the Harmonisation of the Internal Market (OHIM), unitary protection of their trademarks in all of the European Union. Nonetheless, after seven years...
"Why is my baby crying?". This is a question asked by all parents when, woken in the middle of the night by their newborn baby's cries, they spend ten minutes searching for the reason for its distress, only to remain powerless to dry its tears and unable to understand baby's behaviour…...
The esp@cenet quiz is an exercise proposed to our readers. Its aim is to show that patent searching can be an exciting quest, yielding relevant results in almost all technical fields...
This section aims to provide our target users with a small web module to enhance their IP knowledge. It targets researchers or persons who need basic IP knowledge at work...
