International symposium on nanotechnology and patenting
Reference	SE1/2004
Venue	European Patent Office, The Hague (The Netherlands)
Dates	Start 09.11.2004 Tuesday   End 10.11.2004 Wednesday   Working days 2

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The symposium attended by the European elite in nanotechnology and patenting sketched out the road-map for one of the most exciting developments in Research & Development.

The intention of the organisers, ie. to take a pro-active step towards facing the challenge of nanotechnology at an early stage, met with overwhelmingly positive feedback on the part the audience. Scientists, industry representatives, patent professionals and patent examiners found that they could learn a lot from each other. With a view to the Trilateral Co-operation, colleagues from the US Patent and Trademark Office and the Japanese Patent Office also informed about their offices’ approach regarding apt protection of industrial property related to nanotechnology inventions. It appears all three offices have established respective working groups and, for the time being, Europe comes third in terms of nanotechnology patent applications. As for IP capitalized in Nanotechnology Europe clearly seems to lag behind.

Although the current size of the global nanomaterial commercial sector equals the size of the European biscuit industry, as one of the prominent speakers put it, the Symposium has shown that the rapid development on the nanoscale will have increasing impact on various technologies by at the same time blurring the traditional borderlines between e.g. chemistry, physics and biology. Molecular manufacturing - which means using a molecule as a technical device for achieving a particular operation - is in the focus of nanotech developments. Nobel-Laureate Prof. Klaus von Klitzing pointed out that nanotechnology has the potential to revolutionise electronics through the design of transistors on a nanoscale. Further presentations highlighted the future of new advanced materials which are based on quantum effects rather than classical physical phenomena.

The event proved to be an excellent opportunity for sharing knowledge and disseminating know-how regarding an emerging technology and the most effective use of the patent system. It was jointly organised by the European Patent Institute (epi), the Future Technologies Division of the German Association of Engineers (VDI-TZ), the Licensing Executives Society (L.E.S.), the DG1/DG2 Nanotechnology Working Group and the Academy. The President of the epi, Walter Holzer, the Chairman of the European Committee of the Licensing Executives Society International, Bruno Vandermeulen, the President of the Netherlands Industrial Property Office, Harry F.G. Geijzers, and Gerd Bachmann from the Future Technologies Division of the German Association of Engineers expressed their satisfaction with the outcome of this EPO’s initiative. Head of the European Commission’s unit “Nanosciences and Nanotechnologies”, Renzo Tomellini, congratulated the organisers on the successful implementation of the event and welcomed the opportunity for networking, as did most of the 250 participants.

Jean-Michel Zilliox
Head European Patent Academy

Exemplary Presentations

1. Nobel-laureate Klaus von Klitzing explaining the scientific routes to nanotechnology
2. Prof. Raymond Oliver, Cenamps, ountlining the market potentional of nanotechnology
3. Manfred Scheu, Head of the Working Group on Nanotechnology, presenting the EPO's approach toward nanotechnology

Programme