[28.02.2008 first posted on silicon republic]
According to the EU’s European Innovation Scorecard 2007, Ireland is an “innovation follower”, holding just 77.3 European Patent Office patents per million compared with 121 in the UK.

Each of the Nordic countries scores in excess of 200 patents per million population.
“Much of Ireland’s €2bn-a-year investment in R&D is being wasted because of a lack of intellectual property (IP) knowledge and we’re seeking to address that” says Donal O’Connor, senior partner of Dublin IP firm Cruikshank.
To boost the number of companies filing patents, Cruikshank has introduced a free patents and trademarks advice service entitled IP-Free60, in the form of a one-hour free consultation.
Open to Irish-based companies, entrepreneurs, and research bodies the new service marks the culmination of a €4.5m investment by Cruikshank.
The one-hour consultation will serve to assess patents, trademarks and other IP held by the company, gauge the company’s current position, outline potential pitfalls and, crucially, tell the owner how they can profit from their IP.
“Every company has intellectual property, but not every company is exploiting it to its full advantage,” O’Connor explained.
Recent studies from Forfás have shown Irish companies and universities are investing more than €2bn in R&D every year.
The Minister for Innovation Policy, Michael Ahern TD, said that IP is the lifeblood of the modern economy and society and firms in Ireland are slowly waking up to this.
“Wealth creation in the 21st-century developed world depends more and more on the profitable utilisation of knowledge. Failure to create that knowledge, to secure access to it, to protect it or to use it will result in a loss – not only to its creators or owners but to the overall economy and to society as a whole.
“Fortunately, awareness and recognition has been growing that intangible assets, such as IP, are often as important and sometimes more so, than tangible assets. Increasingly, this is now being recognised on the balance sheet,” Minister Ahern said.
By John Kennedy