The work includes the study of patent exploitation in SMEs and of experiences with related policy instruments, the design of an approach that is specific to the exploitation of unused patents by start-ups in the internal market, the experimentation of the approach in concrete field tests and the organisation of events. The tests comprise notably the conduct of patent search services and the delivery of various other advisory and support services to put the SME team in a position to turn the unused patented inventions into a new product and commercialise it on the envisaged market (outside of the present action). The likely contractors are public and private providers of advisory and support services to SMEs. The principal output takes the form of a report that proposes and appraises the project model in all its properties and conditions. The model may be turned into a new innovation policy instrument (in-house work subsequent to the present project) specific to the industrial exploitation of unused patents, a specific form of intellectual property (IP).

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