Join the Patent Office’s Online Conference “Intellectual Property – Vision Without Illusion”
On May 21, 2020, the Patent Office is holding an online conference “Intellectual Property - Vision Without Illusion”, where representatives of various industry sectors will be discussing the future challenges of intellectual property and its impact on the development of the Latvian and global economies, innovation, and knowledge.
Today, globalization, automation, new technologies and artificial intelligence rapidly impact jobs, industries, business models and the way the economy and society are built. How will the innovation-driven economy develop? What role does intellectual property play in the innovation ecosystem? Data from the leading intellectual property offices show that today the demand for intellectual property rights in the knowledge-based economy is only growing and it brings about new challenges for the intellectual property system worldwide. For example, Latvian applicants are increasingly valuing the possibilities to protect their inventions not only in Latvia, but also abroad. According to the EPO's performance indicators, the number of patent application filed from Latvia in 2019 increased by 69.2% as compared with the previous year. In a year, Latvia had the fastest growth among other European countries.
Mr. Sandris Laganovskis, Director of the Patent Office, stresses, “It is important to keep pace with the times and develop modern solutions in order to provide maximum support to Latvian innovators not only locally, but also globally. The online conference "Intellectual Property - Vision Without Illusion" is a great opportunity for any innovator, entrepreneur or industry representative to learn about European and global trends in innovation protection and to discover future priority directions for the purposeful development of business and innovation.”
At the conference, which is dedicated to the Patent Office’s centennial, professionals from the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO), the European Patent Office (EPO), the European Union Intellectual Property Office (EUIPO), the Organization for Economic Co - operation and Development (OECD), etc., will share their vision of the role of intellectual property rights in future economy, innovation, industry, and education.
According to the joint EPO and EUIPO study published in 2019, small and medium-sized enterprises that take advantage of intellectual property protection by applying for a patent, trademark or design have more growth opportunities than companies that do not care about the protection of their intangible assets. Mr. Jānis Ošlejs, CEO Primekss Group, and Mr. Beat Weibel, Chief IP Counsel at Siemens AG, will share their practical experience on the use of intellectual property in business and production development. As Mr. Ošlejs points out, “Intellectual property today is the basis for creating the value of any company; therefore we also actively use it in order to be able to operate successfully all over the world. At this conference, I will share my experience on the use of intellectual property - patents, trademarks and trade secrets, key benefits and lessons learned. It will be relevant to all those who develop products and export them worldwide.”
The Latvian economy, alongside with the world one, is increasingly becoming knowledge-based. Artificial intelligence and the life sciences are the two main areas of technological and scientific development, which, given their multidimensional nature, are challenging intellectual property law. "Quantum computing is one of the biggest technologies of the future, into which billions of euros are invested. It is a field where the United States, China and Europe compete. This conference will be interesting to people who deal with knowledge and innovations and want to look at things more broadly, hear the views of representatives of various fields - scientists, entrepreneurs, lawyers, historians, and others, ”points out Prof. Andris Ambainis. Mr. Marco Palumbo, Senior Licensing & Ventures Manager at Oxford University Innovation Ltd, will speak about the Oxford University’s experience in quantum technology research and the role of intellectual property in the development of quantum technology.
Rapid development of technology and digitalisation of processes will increasingly encourage closer human interaction with smart technologies. Consequently, intellectual property protection systems will play an increasingly important role in maintaining security and quality standards. At the conference, crossing the centenary’s threshold, Mr. Carsten Fink and Mr. Yann Ménière, Chief Economists at WIPO and EPO respectively, will discuss the challenges facing economic and intellectual property protection systems due to industry 5.0. Ms. Florence Mouradian, Economist at the OECD, will cover the role of intellectual property in promoting innovation.
In the closing panel discussion, experts will discuss the issues of the younger generation’s understanding of IP protection and the benefits it brings. Already today, intellectual property protection issues are being gradually integrated into different subjects in a curriculum all around the world. In 2018, in order to improve teachers’ and students’ IP awareness, the Patent Office, in cooperation with the National Centre for Education, developed a methodological material titled “Journey into the World of Industrial Property”, which is currently widely used by Latvian teachers in the study process. By participating in various educational projects, students create new innovative solutions that improve our lives. However, the practice shows that young entrepreneurs rarely think about the timely protection of their intellectual work, which can threaten not only its security, but also the commercial and public benefit. Ms. Justyna Petsch and Mr. Kari Kivinen, representatives from the EUIPO, Ms. Santa Darģe from the Patent Office, and Mr. Kristiāns Lancmanis, Simple + company owner, will participate in the panel discussion on “The World of Intellectual Property for Youth”.
The conference will begin at 10:00 (EEST), Thursday, May 21, 2020. The conference program is available here: https://www.conference2020.lv/programma
The conference will be available live on the conference website at www.conference2020.lv, the Patent Office’s website at www.lprv.gov.lv, the Patent Office’s YouTube channel, Facebook (@LRPatentu_valde), and the news portal Delfi.lv.
The working language of the conference is English, with simultaneous translation to/from Latvian.
During the online conference, everyone will be able to connect to the interactive environment and ask questions to Latvian and foreign lecturers, as well as to express opinions using the online question platform Sli.do with the code # ipvision2020.