Intellectual Property, Regulative Tools and Innovation Policy

The connection between innovation policy and intellectual property regulation is complex. At the same time, the global economy and the supra- and international regulation of intellectual property restrict the alternatives of national parliaments. The general objective of the project is to ask questions and provide solutions for policy makers concerning the way in which they can act optimally in the complex regulatory environment of a global economy. The general objective is reached through two subprojects conducted by the individual researchers. Every research project illuminates some aspect of the connection between innovation policy and IPR regulation. The two subprojects are (1) IPR, the global economy and the enlarged EU - a Finnish perspective and (2) Promoting innovations in the new business environment. The first subproject will study the effect of the changes in the international and EU development on Finnish IPR legislation, on companies and other players. We believe that the effect is more dramatic for the small and medium-sized companies than the large ones. By evaluating the changes, we will be able to show how to use the remaining national competencies in a way that promotes innovative practices in a balanced and efficient manner. The second subproject studies how innovations are dealt with in the business environment. Those three issues the researchers will examine within the subproject are the expiration of licensing agreement, utility models as strategic IPR -tools and the role of patenting in the servie sector. As a whole the research project will involve expertise from technology, economics and law and is in that sense interdisiplinary.