ICFO at the top in patent creation

The number of patent registration in a country, stemming from long-term investments in R&D, is an indicator of capacity for innovation. Strong foundations of knowledge and technology are essential for a country’s healthy economic development, a fact that explains why results published yesterday by the European Patent Office (EPO) showing that in 2019, patent registrations originating in Spain increased by 6% compared to 2018, is good news. This year’s increase places the country above the average of the 38 EPO Member states. ICFO has been an important contributor in terms of innovation, ranking in the top ten of companies and research institutes in patent applications for the second consecutive year.

Among the companies and institutions that registered the highest number of patents in 2019, the Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas (CSIC) came out in first place with 34 applications, followed by the Tecnalia Research & Innovation Foundation (26), Telefónica (23), Dalphi Metal (19), Laboratorios Esteve (20), la Universidad Autónoma de Barcelona (14), ICFO (12), and Repsol (11).

ICFO’s Knowledge and Technology Transfer (KTT) team plays a key role in connecting industry with exciting developments in ICFO laboratories. One of ICFO’s main goals is to maximize business opportunities arising from research being carried out at the Institute and from collaborations with industries, investors and health-care allies. With experience in both business and research, the team develops business plans that are tailored to the unique needs of each company and aligned with the researched capabilities of ICFO.

Dr. Silvia Carrasco, director of the Knowledge and Technology Transfer Unit, comments that “A key aspect in our efforts to bring ICFO’s innovations all the way from the labs towards products that can improve people’s lives is to build solid and strategic patent portfolios around the exciting technologies developed by ICFOnians”.