Knowledge and Technology Transfer Offices Are Concerned About EIC’s IP Regulation

The League of European Research Universities (LERU) and the Guild of European Research-Intensive Universities expressed their concern about the European Innovation Council’s intellectual property (IP) regulation since the standard provision in the European Innovation Council’s (EIC) Pathfinder and Transition programmes create "serious obstacles to knowledge valorisation in most universities." The associations claimed that knowledge and technology transfer offices (KTOs/TTOs) play a significant role in supporting and enabling the researchers to develop the results for commercial and societal purposes and these provisions are blocking commercialisation of research and undermining university KTOs/TTOs. The lack of clarity of these provisions was also stated and the fact that they sometimes conflict with institutional, national, and regional rules, rather than ensuring coherence.

The universities therefore hope to see the rules revised for more effective and efficient approach in order to maximize exploitation of research results. This would also encourage universities to engage in, and support, the development and well-functioning of innovation ecosystems.