Minister O’Keeffe pledges overhaul of intellectual property regime

Minister tells first meeting of Innovation Taskforce of plans to make it easier for entrepreneurs to turn creative ideas into “smart” jobs

1 June 2010

Ireland’s intellectual property regime is to be overhauled under plans to be revealed today [Tuesday] at the first meeting of a group set up to drive the recommendations of the Innovation Taskforce, according to the Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Innovation, Batt O’Keeffe.

Minister O’Keeffe wants to make it easier for entrepreneurs to turn creative ideas into ‘smart’ jobs by ironing out the kinks in the intellectual property process.

Minister O’Keeffe said he wanted to ‘maximise opportunities for commercialisation of Government-backed intellectual property and give entrepreneurs here a competitive edge’.

He has appointed an expert group of technology transfer practitioners and cross-sector industry representatives to implement the intellectual property-related recommendations of the Innovation Taskforce report.

The group will be chaired by Dr Jim Mountjoy, founder of Euristix and a board member of Science Foundation Ireland.

A separate report by Forfás commissioned by the Department and completed in May showed there was scope to develop better commercial opportunities from intellectual property.

Minister O’Keeffe said: ‘Strong Government investment in research and development means that we now have a vibrant intellectual property sector - but my concern is that we do not have a system that is fast enough in allowing these ideas be turned into commercialised products and, ultimately, jobs.

‘I want to smooth the process for industry and enterprise in accessing intellectual property and turning it into products and services for the global marketplace.

‘I want to develop more user-friendly structures for industry to commercialise intellectual property.

‘I do not want bureaucratic kinks holding up the creation of “smart” jobs.

‘The focus must be on ensuring that industry gets predictable, consistent and speedy treatment when engaging with research institutions to commercialise intellectual property.

‘In doing so, we can create “smart” and sustainable jobs and give Ireland a competitive advantage over other countries in developing our innovation capacity.

‘I have asked the expert group on intellectual property to ensure that all enterprises, from small businesses to multinationals, get better access to Government-supported intellectual property and then be able to use it to create jobs and drive our economic recovery,’ said Minister O’Keeffe.

The group will begin to implement change as its work progresses.

It is expected that a considerable amount of improvements will be in place by the end of the year.

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The members of the intellectual property IP Implementation Group are:

Dr Jim Mountjoy [Chairman], Founder of Euristix/Board Member, Science Foundation Ireland, IBEC
Damien Callaghan, Member of Innovation Taskforce, Investment Director, Intel Capital
John Scanlan, Director, Technology Transfer Office, NUI Maynooth
Richard Stokes, CEO, Invent (Technology Transfer Office, DCU)
Brendan Cremen, Director, Technology Transfer Office, UCC
Professor Terry Smith, Vice-President for Research, NUI Galway
Dr Jeanne Bolger, Vice-President of Alliance Management and General Manager, Janssen AI, a Johnson & Johnson company
Barry Kennedy, Research Program Manager, Intel
Dr Daniel O’Mahony, Partner, Kernel Capital Partners and Partner, Seroba Kernel Life Sciences
Dr Ena Prosser, Partner, Fountain Healthcare Partners
Paul Kavanagh, Director, Kinometrics

IP advisor to the Group: Tara MacMahon, Intellectual Property lawyer, Member of Innovation Taskforce

Representatives from relevant agencies and other Government departments will attend meetings when appropriate.

Examples of intellectual property recently developed into marketable products include:

BlueBox Sensors, a spin-out company from NUI Maynooth, has produced implantable brain sensors that can record, in real time, changes in brain chemistry. It is useful in the effort to develop drugs to treat diseases such as Alzheimer’s, Parkinson’s and Schizophrenia.

The Audio Research Group in DIT has pioneered a range of unique audio signal processing technologies that allow people to sing karaoke alongside original sound tracks. The product was licensed into the popular Sony PlayStation 3 Sing Star Karaoke game.

ENDS

Editors’ Note:

A report to review the supports available to encourage exploitation of intellectual property from publicly funded research was commissioned jointly by the Department and Forfás last year.

The report was undertaken in response to concerns raised around the suitability and effectiveness of intellectual property arrangements.

The report was completed at the beginning of May.

The report identified that our intellectual property policies and guidelines are in line with international practice.

Nonetheless, it recommended that, by enhancing these policies and supports, there is scope for Ireland to maximise the opportunities for commercialisation of Government-supported intellectual property.

The Innovation Taskforce report, published in March, focuses on driving innovation by supporting ideas, technology and processes that have commercial potential.

The report made recommendations across a wide range of areas including the need to transform our intellectual property arrangements.

The Group appointed by Minister O’Keeffe will implement the relevant intellectual property recommendations from the Innovation Taskforce report and, at the same time, progress the implementation of the recommendations of the Intellectual Property Review.

The Intellectual Property Review and the Innovation Taskforce Report are available at http://www.forfas.ie/media/forfas100505-ip-review.pdf and www.innovationtaskforce.ie

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For further information please contact:

Bernard Mallee, Press Adviser to Minister Batt O'Keeffe, Department of Enterprise, Trade and Innovation, on Tel: +353 1 631 3944, Mobile: +353 87 9173022, Email: bernard.mallee@deti.ie

Last modified: 01/06/2010

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