“What is obvious cannot be patented. A patent asks for something special that disrupts what we know by offering innovations that improve our lives. Espresso capsules are a great example. Think about how bartenders made coffee in the past and how the invention of the capsule has made it easier for us to make espresso in the dining room, in the office, at home,” says Mr. Ioannis Katzoyannis, Associate Professor of Chemistry at AUTH. to “K”. He is the President of the Hellenic Academy of Industrial Property (EABI), which has accepted its first twelve students this year. They will graduate as a patent tutor and work in universities and companies. Because in Greece we can have a lot of inventors and important research papers, mostly from universities, but we don’t have many patents. “Greece, unlike many European countries, does not have certified patent mentors. The certified consultants that will emerge from EABI will work in technology transfer offices of universities and research centers, in industry, or in the broader public and private sectors. “It is about creating a new profession that will create more added value and accelerate the development of the Greek innovation ecosystem,” adds Mr. Katsoyannis.

According to the latest figures from the European Patent Office for 2021, the Greek patent index per million population is 19.09. Our country is low in the overall ranking and below countries with the same population. For example, the index of Portugal is 28.13, Israel – 195.34, Belgium – 213.63, Austria – 256.22, Sweden – 487.59. The average is 133.65. According to the Hellenic Industrial Property Organization (OBI), 1,020 patent applications were filed in 2022, a record number. “1,020 applications seem like a good number when you consider the population and economy of Greece,” notes Mr. Katzoyannis. However, individual figures show a discrepancy. 60% of applications are submitted from another country, which is due to the lower cost of filing applications in Greece compared to other countries. However, even so, 57% of applications come from companies, 41% from individuals, and only 2% from universities and research centers. This is a paradox, since the main producers of research in Greece are universities and research centers. The lag of Greek universities is evidenced by the fact that, according to the European Patent Office, 9% of applications in Europe come from universities and research centers.

“Greek universities are carrying out extremely important research activities. However, they still lag behind in terms of its economic exploitation, which we really need. In other words, we need important research results to be used by society at large. The backwardness of Greek universities is largely due to the lack of experts who could guide researchers and negotiate on their behalf,” Ms. Iliana Kosti, EAVI Professor and Legal Counsel of the Technology Transfer Office of the University of Western Attica (PADA) notes in K.

“It is about creating a new profession that will provide more added value and give impetus to the growth of the Greek innovation ecosystem.”

“I have seen researchers who do not think at all about protecting their work. None of them think about patenting it and they make a lot of mistakes. Let’s say they do their research, and when they decide to apply for a patent, they publish evidence of it. This is a big mistake. They also don’t know how much of the research result they will patent, leaving it vulnerable to copycats,” says Mr. Katzoyannis. Of course, there are “unformulated questions”, and a certified consultant will help with this.

“Most researchers do not know – and this is quite reasonable – what actions should be taken to assess whether the result of their research is an invention, what elements of it should be distinguished, how to fix it. Writing a patent is very different from scientific publishing, and this is where confusion usually arises. Of course, they need to know how to communicate with the Industrial Property Organization or the European Patent Office to develop the patenting process,” explains Ms. Kosti. “Departments of technology transfer in universities play a decisive role: they help to financially use the results of university research. Greek universities have a long way to go,” notes K, 27-year-old Eleftheria Papanikolaou, a lawyer, student at EAVI and employed by AUTH’s Technology Transfer Unit, which is the first-founded 12 years ago in Greece with a portfolio of 80 patents.

“A patent is the shield of an invention. The shield must be free from cracks, otherwise it does not fulfill its main function of protection. The writing of the act must comply with the rules, legislation and judicial practice, and this requires special wording, such as a contract of sale drawn up by a notary. This special language helps to obtain a patent in other countries of the world, as it is partially harmonized. A poorly written patent cannot protect an invention. It can be circumvented or revoked,” says chemist Ms. Constantina Koriatopoulou, a certified patent consultant in the European Office and will teach at the Hellenic Academy, in K.

As Ms. Koriatopoulou points out, “the study of a patent attorney involves a lot of reading, it’s a game of the mind.” The academic cycle of the OBI-managed Academy lasts two years and is taught by Greeks and foreigners from the renowned Center for International Intellectual Property Studies in Strasbourg. Its first twelve students – 62 applications – are university graduates (most of them in science and law) and were selected based on criteria (level of degree, graduate school, level of English proficiency). “The field of protection of scientific work is impressive, it is of great importance for the researcher. If a research project is not properly patented, it may be left unprotected in a competition and copied. Large companies kill themselves to prevent competitors from finding the Achilles’ heel in their patent and bypassing it,” says Andreas Maroulis, 40, a graduate of the University’s School of Electrical and Computer Engineering. Patras and a student of the Hellenic Academy, asking: “Imagine that you want to protect a piece of land. If you only make it 40%, the rest won’t be trampled on?”