World IP Day: Lots of innovative spirit at the University of Siegen
From new bending processes in forming technology to innovative, fire-retardant building materials or pioneering applications in medical technology to important contributions in the field of quantum computing: 90 inventions have been registered and 58 patents applied for at the University of Siegen in the past five years. Currently, the University's IP Management department, which is part of the Legal Affairs and Patents department, supports and supervises more than 40 patents or patent applications by scientists or students. Just in time for World IP Day on April 26, the new IP Management website will be launched.
"Every case is individual, which is what makes the work so exciting," says IP Manager Christian Piel, describing his job. Piel has been the central point of contact for inventors at the University of Siegen since 2015. "We support university members in transferring their innovative work results to industry and society in a legally secure manner," explains Piel. The area of work has expanded significantly in recent years: In addition to traditional advice on inventions and patents, the range of services now includes all areas of intellectual property - from trademark protection to copyrighted works and software.
"While patents usually come from the scientific and technical field, the expansion of our remit means that we now deal with people from all areas of the university," says Piel. In addition to financial benefits, inventors often also benefit scientifically from their innovations: A patent specification as a publication on their CV proves that the research is relevant and commercially interesting, with social benefits also being considered. "This also helps when applying for third-party funding," reports Piel.
The IP Management service is available free of charge to all employees and students at the University of Siegen. The range of services extends from initial consultation and support for patent applications to market and technology field analyses and support for technology-oriented spin-offs. The University of Siegen works closely with internal and external partners, including the Connect.US transfer office, the research funding department and PROvendis GmbH, a subsidiary of the NRW universities for the evaluation, protection and marketing of intellectual property. In the state-wide joint project "Innovation 2 Business", the 27 NRW universities are working together with PROvendis to promote the transfer of knowledge and technology in business and society.
Just in time for World IP Day, the IP Management of the University of Siegen has renewed its website: at www.uni-siegen.de/patente
interested parties inside and outside the University of Siegen can now find all the information they need even more quickly and easily.
