Patentometria: estudo de múltiplos casos sobre a utilização de dados contidos em patentes como mecanismo de auxílio na gestão da inovação dos NITs

Abstract

The role of Science and Technology Institutes, especially universities, has been changing over time. The focus previously given to the triad: teaching, research, and extension is now focused on a fourth new pillar - the commercialization of technologies and knowledge generated in the institutions. The technology transfer process allows transferring the technologies created in the university or other Science and Technology Institutes, to those interested in exploring them commercially or using them in internal processes, contributing to technological and economic development. Because of the increase in the volume of technology transfers and the need to manage the intellectual property generated in the Research & Development Institutes, the figure of the Technological Innovation Offices emerges (TIO). Those offices are an organizational structure linked to the Institutes of Science and Technology, and they are responsible for putting into practice the innovation policies and leading the technology transfer process. However, some bottlenecks impede the efficient performance of the Technological Innovation Centers in the process. The Culture, staff, management methods, and tools, as well as weak processes and a non-data mindset, are factors that negatively impact TIO performance. In this context, a case study was carried out analyzing three Technological Innovation Offices from universities in the state of Minas Gerais. Through the analysis of data contained in patents and interviews, a technological overview of the Technological Innovation Offices was carried out in order to observe the bottlenecks in the technology transfer process and identify points where the use of patent information can assist in the management of innovation. This study developed a patentometr detailed the composition of the technological fields in the institutions' patent portfolio, and it was found the performance indexes for the technology transfer process. Besides, it was established a comparison between the cases and compiled the gaps observed in the process. It was found that the institutions have a similar predominance for the technological field for the medical sciences, veterinary, and hygiene, but within a specificity. Besides, it was found that the success rate for technology transfer is, on average of 6%, a value close to that of the University of São Paulo, but far from the University of Campinas (16%) and the ideal value of 25% when compared to international standards. It was noted that the Technological Innovation Offices have deficiencies related to activities and management of the technology transfer process, in the interaction between partners for the co-development of technologies and those interested in the licensing it, in addition to the systems used to support the management of the intellectual property. Thus, this work proposes the use of data contained in patents to support decisions and steps related to market and strategic evaluation, as well as, in the search for prior-art, intellectual property management, attracting partners for co-development and prospecting of interested in exploring technologies, in addition to optimizing the allocation of resources and efforts. It was concluded that the use of data analysis contained in patents could assist the Innovation Offices in the management of the intellectual property and, mainly, leverage the performance of technology transfer. Nevertheless, it is essential to change processes and policies, as well as the culture of the university.