Contents -- Part ONE IP evolution -- 1.1 A more unitary European IP architecture -- The EU … but not only the EU -- The new EU-wide integrated IPRs: big success and much use -- Partly integrated rights -- The EPO: a convenient European alternative route for getting patents -- What about the future? -- 1.2 Plans for a unitary patent in Europe -- Attempts to establish a patent at European Community level 2010 -- Current proposal: 'enhanced cooperation' -- Conclusion -- 1.3 When is a patent right for you? -- 1.4 European or national applications -- Competence of the national patent offices -- A national route for Finnish applicants -- The national route for foreign applicants -- Utility models -- Conclusions -- 1.5 Patent trends -- Introduction -- Deconstructing the structures -- Concluding remarks -- Part TWO The IP advantage -- 2.1 IP and the Innovation Union -- Research projects -- 2.2 IP and open innovation -- 2.3 Innovating out of recession -- The need to protect innovation -- Patenting -- The Patents County Court -- The Unified Patent Court -- 2.4 How to extract value -- The road from idea to operational business -- Patents critical to the biopharmaceutical industry -- Leveraging expense and risk -- Final remarks -- Part three IP capability -- 3.1 IP in the plan -- Why IPR management? -- Six steps to IPR management -- 3.2 High-level IP -- What do researchers and managers typically have to learn? -- Empirical observations: five years of in-house IP training/coaching practice -- Three generic formats of innovative in-house training/coaching with proven efficiency -- Conclusion -- 3.3 IT for IP -- IPMS objectives -- User interface -- Security -- Customizability -- Integration -- Process management -- Reports and analyses -- Summary -- 3.4 Pioneering IP -- How can business models be designed to allow for innovation and pioneer inventions?.

Synergy between small companies and big pharmas -- A business model for innovators -- Part four IP and technology frontiers -- 4.1 Software and computer-related inventions -- Patent strategies for IT companies -- A well-considered patent strategy for supporting the business -- Summary -- 4.2 Intellectual property and climate change -- Climate change - the new big IP battle -- Do IP rights trigger or impede the transfer of ESTs? -- Special treatment of green patent applications -- Functioning IP and technological development -- Climate change resilience and IP interaction -- 4.3 Life sciences -- When to file -- What to file -- Where to file -- Conclusion -- 4.4 Medical devices -- Restrictions regarding medical methods in Europe -- Filing strategies in view of the restrictions -- Summary -- 4.5 Innovation in plants and seeds -- Why IP protection for plant varieties? -- What is plant variety protection (PVP)? -- PVP - a perfect tool for technology transfer -- Checklist - what can you gain from plant variety protection in the EU? -- Part Five IP and creative challenges -- 5.1 Adwords -- Development of referencing services in marketing strategies -- Google's liability for offering its Adwords referencing service -- Advertiser's liability for purchasing keywords similar or identical to a trademark -- 5.2 The fashion industry -- Standards of IP protection in the European Union and the United States -- Impact of recession on global fashion industry -- New technologies -- New IP challenges -- Tendencies in IP management -- New legal environment -- Tactics for efficient IP protection -- Conclusions -- 5.3 Liability of hosting services -- Part six IP filings -- 6.1 Disclosure: too much too soon vs too little too late -- Background -- Problem statement -- Protect first, then talk? -- Risks of early publication, even after initial protection.

Conclusion - how to avoid problems -- 6.2 Drafting choices for first-time patent applicants -- What should be protected? -- Should the claims be broad or narrow? -- Should the filing be done as quickly as possible? -- Is it possible to accelerate the grant of a patent application? -- In which language should the first application be drafted? -- How long has the application to be? Should a specific wording be used? -- 6.3 The protection of trade secrets: a comparative overview -- International recognition -- Protection under different types of laws -- Civil remedies -- How to improve trade secrets protection? -- 6.4 Acquiring community brand rights -- Brand name protection -- Acquiring rights on creations -- Conclusion - uniform protection of rights -- 6.5 From the scientific to the legal -- Definition of the invention -- Generalization of the invention -- Functional features -- Feature expressed in terms of result to be achieved -- Product claim or process/method claim -- 6.6 How to protect yourself online -- We are all reducible to a number -- Individual protection -- Collective protection -- 6.7 What your US competition doesn't want you to know about US patent law -- Compelling reasons for early US filing -- Conclusions -- Part seven Fit for purpose -- 7.1 IP portfolio design -- When deciding what to protect, where and how, don't forget why -- What about doing nothing? -- If doing something, do it properly -- Innovation identification and filing strategies for research groups -- Filing strategies for projects involving multiple innovations -- Creating an effective portfolio - safety in numbers -- Registered design strategy -- Conclusion -- 7.2 IP issues for creative start-ups and spin-outs -- IP as an asset of your company -- Your company name -- Identify your IP and be smart managing it -- Your IP policy and procedures.

7.3 IP on a low budget -- Free advice -- Different forms of protection -- The geographical area of protection -- Using risk to transfer costs -- Checklist -- 7.4 Strategic variations -- Patent strategies -- Variations by industry -- 7.5 Seamless cooperation between product development and protection -- Ideas are born early enough for patenting -- 7.6 How to recover your position -- IP that you did not know you had -- IP that you apply for -- Protecting technology -- Protecting designs -- Protecting brand names and logos -- It's never too late -- 7.7 IP valuation -- 7.8 Dynamic portfolios -- The basics of business development -- The truth about the patent portfolio -- Finally - meeting all the arguments -- Part eight Free to operate -- 8.1 How to clear your path to market -- Pre-project phase -- Project phase -- Pre-marketing and marketing phase -- How to overcome your competitor's patent rights -- Summary -- 8.2 Exploring patent information -- Patent database information -- Searching patents -- Making decisions based on patent information -- Potential pitfalls -- Conclusion -- Useful links -- 8.3 How to oppose a patent -- The only way to tackle a European patent for all contracting states -- Reasons to oppose a patent -- Make sure the opposition is admissible -- A patent can be revoked or maintained in its granted or an amended form -- 8.4 How to design around a European patent -- The European patent system -- Claim interpretation -- Questioning the legal validity of a European patent and its national parts -- Summary -- 8.5 How to limit a patent -- How to request a readjustment of the protection conferred by the patent (after grant) -- Centralized limitation procedure in the EPC -- National procedure for limitation (France) -- Conclusion -- 8.6 Be clear who owns the IP -- What is a creation?.

The principle of the ownership of the rights in favour of an author/creator who is an individual -- The exceptions to the principle of the initial ownership -- Part nine IP in partnership -- 9.1 Potential for technology partnership and its implications for IPRs -- University-industry partnership -- Knowledge transfer between clusters -- For cluster managers and practitioners -- Role of IP in fostering technology partnerships -- Conclusion -- 9.2 Engaging with universities -- How companies can work with academic researchers -- IPR and the value chain -- The challenge to business -- 9.3 Guidelines for technology transfer -- The notion of success -- Identify technologies suitable for transfer -- Technology seeks market -- IP due diligence -- 'Seek the searcher' and innovation-driven people -- Valuation -- Conclusion -- 9.4 IP in collaboration -- The major risks of joint development -- Minimizing the risks -- Part ten IP for profit -- 10.1 IP financing and trading -- Challenges -- Trends -- Solutions -- 10.2 How to draft a licence -- Introduction -- Key clauses in a licence agreement -- Conclusion -- 10.3 Royalty agreements -- What is a royalty agreement? -- Describe the licensor's intellectual rights -- Define the licence clearly to the licensee -- Stipulate the remuneration for the licence -- Other contractual provisions -- Checklist -- 10.4 The valuation of patents -- What is value? -- How to maximize IP value -- Part eleven When you are copied -- 11.1 IP litigation and alternative dispute resolution -- Alternative dispute resolution and IP court litigation -- Conclusions -- 11.2 Preliminary patent injunctions in Europe -- Harmonization by the Directive 2004/48 -- Remaining differences between Member States -- The question of cross-border preliminary injunctions -- 11.3 The scope of claims -- Equivalence -- Case law -- 11.4 Specialized IP courts.

Patent litigation in Europe.