The Innovation and Patents Centre

Effectively protecting a company's technologies through patents and utility-model patents against competitors and imitators is becoming increasingly important; particularly in strongly-contested global and regional markets with ambitious competitors. Furthermore, empirical studies have shown that systematic patent management significantly increases entrepreneurial success.

The Hamburg Chamber of Commerce is a key player in technology and knowledge transfer in Hamburg, thanks to the comprehensive knowledge and wealth of experience held by its Innovation and Patents Centre (IPC); it is a central contact for the business sector over matters relating to the protection of industrial property rights and to patent and innovation management. The IPC is not only very well networked in Hamburg, thanks to its services in innovation and patent management for companies.It is also a partner in SIGNO (a German federation for protection of ideas for commercial exploitation) and a member of the TechnologieAllianz grouping. Moreover, the IPC is an active partner in the network of innovation consultants for the Chambers of Industry and Commerce, and has good contacts abroad through the representative offices of the Chambers of Commerce.

Given its wide range of services, the IPC can offer comprehensive patent-related consultancy to benefit companies. Every year, the IPC provides information on industrial property rights to 3,000 individual clients, and provides telephone consultancy to a further 12,000.Our reading room is available for personal research using our databases, under the expert guidance of the IPC staff.

Here is a list of the services we offer:

Accepting office for the German Patent and Trademark Office (DPMA) + initial consultation
Specialist information
IPC patent portfolio
IPC patent research
IPC patent analysis
IPC patent evaluation
IPC patent strategy
IPC patent exploitation
IPC technology and competition monitoring
IPC technology evaluation
IPC technology barometer
Trademark monitoring
TechSearch
Hamburg innovation audit
Information events

Our services in detail:

Accepting office for the German Patent and Trademark Office (DPMA) + initial consultation

We accept applications for patents, utility-model patents and trademarks, acknowledging the application date, for the German Patent and Trademark Office (Deutsche Patent- und Markenamt, or DPMA).Going hand-in-hand with this is an in-depth initial consultation on questions relating to patents, utility-model patents, trademarks and design patents.

Specialist information

For innovators and inventors, strategic advice on the method of procedure is offered in the specialist information from SIGNO, and the initial economic conditions and possibilities for a new patent or innovation project are set out. Information is also given on additional points of contact and, where applicable, on funding options.

The SME subsidy programme ”KMU-Patentaktion– run under ”SIGNO– aims at creating a more invention- and innovation-friendly climate in Germany, and at improving the implementation of research and development outcomes as marketable products. The target groups are SMEs and start-ups looking to protect their developments for the first time via the industrial property rights route. The IPC is a SIGNO partner, and is involved with this programme through offering services and consultancy.

IPC patent portfolio

One of the most important IPC services for companies is the development of patent management strategies. These allow companies to exploit the potential of their patents in the optimal manner. The key instrument in patent management is our patent portfolio analysis. Assessing a patent portfolio can be undertaken with a view to the market value and commercial value of patent families, or in the form of a competition portfolio, where a company's portfolio is shown in a comparison with those of its competitors.

The IPC patent portfolio offers multiple benefits for companies, for only modest expenditure:

• It facilitates a presentation of the company's situation in terms of the technology;
• Clear presentation of the key patents means that the R&D strategy can be further developed;
• Identification of industrial property rights which could be surrendered brings about a direct cost saving;
• Gaps in protection for key products can be identified;
• The patent application strategy can be optimised;
• Possible new areas of business can be mapped;
• The potential for onward licensing can be identified; and
• Direct cash-flow can be generated using patents funds and patent auctions.

IPC patent research

Patent research provides information as to which technologies have already been patented, thereby providing a comprehensive overview of an area of technology. It therefore also forms the basis for further strategic decisions. It is important in the upstream phase of the innovation process, to avoid own development in areas which are already protected by other companies or to illustrate new approaches to solutions. Patent research is also sensible prior to market launch, for example in order to secure the issue of a patent.

IPC patent analysis

Using our IPC patent analysis, we examine a company's situation with regard to the market and its competitors. After all, patents contain a lot of valuable information about markets and companies. Patent analyses reveal the technological base employed by the competition, making it easier to assess the opportunities and threats for a company's own innovation. Through our statistical analyses of patents, we make it possible to use this information to secure an edge in decision-making. A benchmark analysis allows a company's strengths and weaknesses to be compared with other companies.

IPC patent evaluation

For the IPC patent evaluation, we assess patents and patent portfolios quantitatively, using a procedure developed by IP Bewertungs AG and certified by a renowned audit company.

IPC patent strategy

Protecting corporate technologies against competitors is becoming increasingly important; especially in strongly-contested markets with large numbers of competitors.We give advice on devising an industrial property rights strategy, in order to safeguard patents as comprehensively as possible.To that end, we work closely with patent lawyers.The IPC patent strategy helps companies to avoid unnecessary application costs, to have an overview of costs, to establish effective combinations of protected property rights, and to discover possible potential for commercial exploitation.

IPC patent exploitation

The IPC also participates directly in technology transfer and knowledge transfer by encouraging the transfer of patent-protected technologies.As part of the IPC patent exploitation, IPC accepts commissions to search for suitable co-operation partners.These can either be companies looking to acquire external know-how under licence, or patent-holders looking to license their inventions.

IPC technology and competition monitoring

For individual companies, it is very difficult to monitor the annual volume of 1.5 million new patents. To make it possible to use this information flow in a meaningful way, IPC carries out an effective pre-selection operation. Monitoring covers legal status as well as new patent applications (by competitors) in particular fields of technology. The special search profile is devised jointly with the client, and monitoring is then undertaken cyclically, with the interval being specified by the client.

IPC technology barometer

The IPC offers an IPC technology barometer, as an instrument for strategic early identification of trends in technology. The IPC technology barometer evaluates the printed patent specifications which are newly-issued each month (around 20,000), using a system developed in-house. In this way, we can provide trend analyses for areas of technology, and we use this information to inform companies about global areas of emphasis and trends in technology.

Trademark registration and monitoring

The IPC supports companies and start-ups in their trademark research and trademark monitoring.

TechSearch

To bring business and the academic world together and to make SMEs in particular "visible" for technology and knowledge transfer, the Hamburg Chamber of Commerce has developed the "TechSearch" database, which is operated jointly with Hamburg science and research office. In a comprehensible and standardised format, companies are given direct access to offers of co-operation from academics and other companies. In addition, companies can find out about which applications-oriented themes and technologies researchers are working on in both the academic and business worlds. Academics and companies can submit offers of co-operation, and research whether further co-operation partners are already out there. ”TechSearch" thus provides a transparent platform for technology and knowledge transfer between the academic world and the business world, promoting the commercial exploitation of technologies.

Hamburg innovation audit

Using the online-facilitated Hamburg innovation audit, companies can analyse and optimise their innovation management in eight categories. The questions are adapted to the respective sector and to the size of the company. The results allow for a comparison within the sector or on the basis of company size.In addition, suitable methods are listed for improving innovation management within the company.

Information events

The offer of services provided by the IPC is rounded off by the events it organises (around 30 per annum) for start-ups and/or established professionals in the area of patents, trademarks, protected design rights, software protection, licensing contracts, innovation funding and current technologies.