FAQ related to Intellectual property protection

St. Anne´s University Hospital (hereinafter referred to as FNUSA) exercises the right to objects of industrial property especially if the object of industrial property is beneficial for FNUSA, ie especially if it is suitable for external commercial use. This fact is decided by the Council for Commercialization, its opinion will determine the further treatment of the object of industrial property. OTT notifies the originator of the decision on the exercise of rights and communicates with him the next steps.

The invention, which can be protected by a patent, is the result of an inventive step and satisfies the condition of novelty with regard to the state of the art at the date of filing the application for the invention. Furthermore, it must be reusable industrially usable, ie it can be produced or otherwise used in industry, agriculture or other areas of the economy. Methods of surgical or therapeutic treatment of the human body and diagnostic methods used on the human body are not considered to be industrially applicable inventions. These ways and methods are not patentable.

A technical solution, that is new, goes beyond mere skill and is reusable industrially can be protected by a utility model. Technical solutions that are protected by a utility model tend to have less potential for commercialization, shorter service life or are subject to lower requirements for the overall level of invention.

The Department of Technology Transfer (OTT) takes care of the protection of industrial property. OTT ensures the process of protection of industrial property through patent attorneys and, unless otherwise agreed, bears the costs related to industrial property protection.

If the inventor has created an invention or utility model within the employment relationship with FNUSA, he is obliged to report this fact to OTT within 30 days. This information obligation will be fulfilled by filling in the form of the Invention disclosure form in the Czech language, which can be downloaded from the FNUSA-ICRC intranet, or possibly on request from the OTT, and by sending it to tt.icrc@fnusa.cz.

In the form Invention disclosure form, the inventor primarily fills in information about the invention or technical solution itself, including information about all its originators. The Notification must be accompanied by relevant documents that could play a role in assessing whether industrial property protection of the object is desirable. Thanks to all the information and documents provided by the originator, FNUSA should be able to properly assess whether it will exercise rights to these industrial property objects. In case of any ambiguity in completing the Notice, the originator may request the assistance of OTT, which will provide him with all information on the protection of industrial property or assistance in completing the Notice and summarizing any annexes.

The submitted Notice will be prepared by OTT staff, who will evaluate whether it is really an industrial property object, whether the object is co-co-invented with originators outside FNUSA and whether the subject is related to research projects. Based on the findings, the OTT will prepare a “Commercialization Proposal”, which it will submit to the Commercialization Council.

FNUSA exercises the right to industrial property in particular if the industrial property is beneficial to FNUSA, ie in particular if it is eligible for external commercial use. This fact is decided by the Council for Commercialization, its Opinion will determine the further treatment of the subject of industrial property. OTT notifies the originator of the decision on the exercise of rights and communicates with him the next steps.

In the event that the Commercialization Council decides not to exercise the right, the right to the result passes back to the originator. He may dispose of the object of industrial property at his discretion and possibilities and implements any protection in his own way and for his own resources. FNUSA is obliged to maintain the confidentiality of the subject matter so as not to jeopardize the possibility of protection by patent or utility model.

All inventions and technical solutions must be kept confidential at least until a patent application or utility model application is filed. If information on the subject of industrial property is published before the submission of such an application, the result of the work can no longer be legally protected. It is therefore necessary to avoid publishing in the form of publications, in conference papers, or just their abstracts.

The maximum duration of patent protection is 20 years. In the case of a utility model, it is a maximum of 10 years. In both cases, the protection is valid from the date of filing the application and its extension is linked to the payment of maintenance fees.

If you are approached by an institution or a private company interested in using the registered industrial property of FNUSA, contact OTT, which will contact the entity, agree on the terms of cooperation and secure it legally.
In the event that the incentive reward becomes manifestly disproportionate to the benefit achieved by the commercial exploitation of the result, the originator is entitled to a reward from the commercialization of industrial property. OTT decides on the achievement of such a disparity and on the amount of remuneration from commercialization.

If you have any questions, do not hesitate to contact OTT and its staff at tt.icrc@fnusa.cz.
The issue of industrial property is regulated in more detail by the internal directive S / A / 82999/019, on the management of research results and the protection of intellectual property, which the OTT regularly updates.

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