IPR training and tools for better handling of IPR topics by SMEs

•Special requirements of SMEs for IPR training analysed.•Development of 7 IPR tools in a funded project with feedback from SMEs described.•These free tools are used in training courses and in normal work activities.•Good and valuable feedback from participants to be used for training optimisation.

The handling of IPR by SMEs is on average still quite poor, leading to missed chances of proper protection, risks due to possible patent infringements and ignorance of the vast pool of available technical information and potential innovation triggers provided by the many million patent documents accessible using patent searches. Existing IPR tools are often devised for larger companies and genuine IPR experts, and some tools are often considered by SME personnel to be difficult to handle and therefore are little used at the SME level.Therefore, the approach of a funded project together with SMEs as intended users has been undertaken in Austria. Based on a mutually defined standardised innovation process according to the stage-gate model, seven valuable yet easy-to-handle IPR tools have been developed, ranging from a guideline to patent searches to a decision guidance for the frequently encountered hard choice between patent and secret know-how.The seven free-of-charge IPR tools, useful in typical situations faced also by SMEs, such as requested cost prediction before applying for a patent, are explained and their benefits highlighted. The IPR training based on the demonstration of these tools and practical exercises using them is described and the lessons learnt by this approach are summarised.