Report of the IP Awareness Working Group:
In a comprehensive initiative conducted throughout 2023-2024, the epi Presidium completed a systematic consultation with all 39 epi Council delegations to firstly identify the current and future concerns of European Patent Attorneys across each of their member states and secondly to identify areas where epi, as a European professional organization, could help to improve the situation in the EPC member states https://information.patentepi.org/issue-4-2024/listening-to-our-members-delegations.html.
The consultation revealed several critical areas requiring attention, with a predominant concern being the need to enhance awareness of the patent and the wider IP system’s value among businesses, particularly SMEs, as well as universities and their start-ups and spin-outs.
The Presidium found that “many delegations reported ongoing activities leading to new innovations in their jurisdictions but that there is then often a missing sensitivity of the involved companies and institutions for the relevance of patents.” This widespread challenge exists across almost all EPC countries, where stakeholders need greater awareness about both protecting their inventions and understanding third-party protection landscapes, as well as obtaining patent protection which will be useful in respect of a later commercialization of inventions.
The IPA WG has been created to address these identified needs, serving as a critical bridge between the patent profession and the broader business and academic communities. The IPA WG includes members https://patentepi.org/en/epi-bodies/epi-working-groups.html#/intellectual-property-awareness of the Editorial Committee (EC), the Professional Education Committee (PEC), the IP Commercialization Committee (IPPC) and the Online Communication Committee (OCC).
Chaired by Oana BONCEA with Dr. Claudia DUFFY as Vice-chair, the IPA WG aims to develop effective communication strategies, educational content and training, and strategic collaborations aimed at directly addressing the gaps identified by the Presidium’s consultation. Complementing IP awareness initiatives of other organizations (WIPO, EUIPO, etc), the projects initiated by the IPA WG would highlight the role and importance of our profession and the role of patents within the wider IP and business world.
The IPA WG has selected four strategic priorities. It should be noted that all related projects require appropriate funding, selection of volunteering members, and operation within the parameters established by our founding regulation https://patentepi.org/assets/uploads/documents/rules-regulations/2.3-250510.pdf:
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Communication with Stakeholders: The IPA WG has identified three distinct target audiences - epi members, businesses andacademia, and EQE candidates. To best reach out to each of these target audiences, the IPA WG is now working on communication strategies tailored to the individual needs of the target audiences, and these may include, for example, tailored LinkedIn posts, blogs and podcasts with a “look and feel” specific to each target audience.
- Content Generation: The IPA WG has initiated several pilot projects for the creation of content tailored to each target audience. Selected examples are “The role of IP in business” for the business audience and “The role of EPAs” for the EQE candidates audience.
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Training Programs: Building on the success of the C99 Vilnius business-facing “Innovation Commercialisation: Multiple Paths to Profit” seminar https://patentepi.org/en/epi/form/90/registration, the IPA WG is investigating to which extent customized training programs for SMEs, university, start-ups and spin-outs, and academic institutions might be realized in collaboration with epi. Our founding regulation and tax law imposes certain limits in this regard, which we are currently investigating.
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External Collaboration: The group is pursuing partnerships with the EPO University Program https://www.epo.org/en/learning/learning-resources-profile/universities-research-centres-and-technology-transfer-centres/modular-ip-education-framework and the wider business community to enhance outreach effectiveness.
The IPA WG has met multiple times online throughout 2025 and plans an in-person meeting allowing for more substantive discussions in 2026.
