EPO underlines importance of IP protection at Web Summit
An EPO delegation including António Campinos, EPO President, Nellie Simon, Vice-President Corporate Services, and several expert examiners took part in Web Summit in Lisbon between 4 and 6 November. The summit is the world’s largest technology event, drawing 70 000 visitors from 160 countries. This year is the first in which the Office was invited to lead a panel discussion and host an exhibition area.
President Campinos was joined by Dr Keigham J. Gabriel, President and CEO at Draper Lab, and Carmela Troncoso, Head of Security & Privacy Engineering at École polytechnique fédérale de Lausanne (EPFL), for a panel discussion on the topic “Patenting the future: The next big invention”. The panel noted that intellectual property and in particular patents have played a major role in innovation, and that without this protection, scientific advancement is stifled.
President Campinos also spoke about the economic contribution of patents, saying, “I’m not aware of any strong economies that do not have a strong IP system. In the EU, patent intensive industries are responsible for 45% of the GDP and 80% of exports. It’s clear that industries driven by IP, particularly patents, are vital to the European economy.”
Web Summit is a key event for start-ups, SMEs and entrepreneurs, and also draws policy makers, academics, investors as well as leaders from large corporate enterprises.
The Office’s exhibition area was geared towards this diverse audience. Several EPO experts in Information and Communications Technology (ICT) engaged with visitors and discussed the role of the Office and the patent system, with particular focus on digital innovation.
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