Feasibility study on Intellectual Property pre-diagnostic : annex 1 : proposed service model and manual

The following document is annex 1 to the report on a "Feasibility Study on Intellectual pre-diagnostic" service. The feasibility study itself set out to assess to what extent introducing an IP Prediagnostic service for SMEs - a structured "prediagnostic" audit of a firm´s situation in terms of IP - at EU level is doable and viable. Annex 1 is specifically a document, a manual, for service providers who want to implement such a service and need respective guidance on the various steps of implementation. Therefore, based on the study results, we propose a model for such a service with this document. The model draws heavily on documents and respective manuals created by the EPO, based on work of the Austrian patent office and the Serbian IP office, as well as the manuals and documentation of the "IP Audits Plus" service offered by the UK IP Office.1 Parts of these manuals have been reused in the appropriate places, re-combined and extended to account for the study findings and the requirements for the service design to have the service functional at European level. The authors wish to thank the EPO, the Austrian Patent Office, the Serbian Patent Office as well as the UKIPO for their permission to use their texts. Readers should be also advised that a distinction is being made between the service as delivered in the pilot project - which has a more defined mode of operation (as specified in relevant parts of this manual) - and the operation of the service in general, which allows for more options regarding a possible implementation. In particular, we incorporate flexibility to allow for different ways of implementation in different Member States. This refers particularly a) to who will be delivering the service and b) how the SMEs are going to be approached as well as c) what type of SMEs should be targeted.