He explained that the number of patent applications submitted to the Patent Board for registration and approval is adequate in light of the number of residents in Latvia and the scale of the national enterprise environment. Latvia is hardly far behind its neighbors Estonia and Lithuania in this regard. About 200 patent applications are received each year here.
But more needs to be done with these registered and approved patents down the pipeline, says Laganovskis. Statistical data show that patents tend to be kept in force by their registered owners for six years, moreover there is a very low coefficient of sold patents. This indicates that the patents wind up not being used for any commercial purposes.
Laganovskis points out that there is an open niche here for inventors, scientists and entrepreneurs, who need to be able to find each other and combine their efforts to innovate so that the achievements of Latvia’s brightest minds find renown beyond the national borders.
The Patent Board head pointed to Scandinavia as a good model for such cooperative efforts, where inventors go public with their visions and meet businesspeople ready to help commercialize their ideas.
