Innovation Partnerships

Technology transfer supports the entire lifecycle of an innovation—from its inception, through protection of industrial property rights, to commercialization and market dissemination. These rights are a crucial tool in the research and development phase, allowing scientific institutions to maintain control over their research results and ensure their use aligns with the organization's mission and values. At the same time, they constitute a powerful business tool, enabling them to build market position, attract partners, and achieve a return on investment through development collaboration or licensing agreements.

Building partnerships for innovation is part of the research on sustainable economic growth driven by innovation. This year's Nobel Prize in Economics, awarded to Joel Mokyr, Philippe Aghion, and Peter Howitt, reaffirms the importance of innovation and so-called creative technological destruction as the foundations of long-term economic growth and social prosperity.

In a knowledge-based economy, collaboration between science and business is crucial, supporting the commercialization of research results and the implementation of modern technologies. In Poland, the Agreement of Academic Technology Transfer Centers (PACTT), the Agreement of Special Purpose Vehicles (PSC), and specialized university units dedicated to knowledge transfer play a significant role in this process.

PACTT is a nationwide network of over 106 technology and knowledge transfer centers. Its mission is to support cooperation between science and industry and to develop commercialization competencies.

PSC brings together over 37 special purpose vehicles operating at scientific institutions. These companies are responsible for implementing research results for businesses and creating academic spin-off startups founded by scientists, doctoral candidates, and graduates.

For technology transfer to be effective, universities must operate within a robust innovation ecosystem encompassing scientific, industrial, and government institutions, as well as appropriate resources—human capital, financial resources, and support structures. Such an ecosystem enables the pooling of knowledge and resources to collaboratively create innovations for regional and economic development.

The key to successful technology transfer are:

- companies ready to invest time and resources in the development of intellectual property,

- a market ready to accept new products,

- the ability of enterprises to absorb and use new knowledge.

At the same time, universities, as non-profit organizations, face challenges related to market realities. An example of how they can effectively overcome these challenges is the "Innovator's Laboratory – Creative Ideas Zone" project implemented by the Poznań University of Life Sciences (PACTT). The program offers comprehensive mentoring support for those developing innovative products and planning to establish start-ups. It is an example of a successful partnership between science and business for the development of entrepreneurship.

Another challenge is bringing high-potential technologies to market. This requires identifying suitable markets, acquiring partners capable of further product development and distribution, and effectively communicating with consumers.

The intellectual property commercialization strategy varies from university to university, but typically includes the following steps:

- submitting an invention to the technology transfer center,

- technical and market assessment,

- obtaining patent protection,

- preparation of a business plan,

- promotion of intellectual property,

- licensing or sale,

- product development and commercialization.

The integration of the activities of the centers around PACTT and PSC is creating an increasingly coherent system supporting innovation in Poland – from concept to market implementation. Initiatives such as the EU's #EUInnovateTogether program demonstrate the effectiveness of cross-border and interdisciplinary collaboration.

The challenge for the future is to further strengthen the innovation ecosystem and scale up best practices. The growing number of active initiatives and the increasingly strong position of Polish technology transfer centers confirm that building innovation partnerships has a solid foundation and can significantly support the country's economic development in the coming years.

Expert opinion

Building innovation partnerships is a key element of effective organizational development in a dynamically changing economic environment. This type of collaboration is based on combining the potential of various entities – enterprises, scientific institutions, non-governmental organizations, and public administration – to create and implement innovative technological, organizational, and social solutions. Partners share resources, knowledge, and experience, allowing for faster idea generation, risk reduction, and more effective commercialization of research results. The Polish Patent Office is a crucial link in the innovation ecosystem in Poland. We actively collaborate with technology transfer communities, including PACTT and PSC, recognizing that our collective knowledge and activities form a complementary whole. Industrial property rights are the foundation for effective technology transfer. Patents are not only the only effective vehicle for transferring innovation from science to business, but also the basis for licensing and valuing innovation.