IRIS NOVA FCT hosts the Intellectual Property Support Office (GAPI), providing researchers, entrepreneurs, and students across the Almada region with specialised intellectual property information and advisory services.
As an accredited PATLIB centre by the European Patent Office (EPO) and the Portuguese Institute of Industrial Property (INPI), it ensures continuous skill development and strong links with national and international patent information networks.
Patent Support:
Practical and advisory guidance throughout the entire patent protection process.
Intellectual Property Valorisation:
Initiatives focused on the strategic and informational value of patents, research data, and advanced technological analysis methodologies.
Technological and Competitive Landscape Analysis:
Mapping technological trends and competitive dynamics through data extraction and analysis across specialised databases.
Sessions on industrial property rights (patents, trademarks, utility models, industrial designs, and copyright) and hands-on guidance on using open databases for prior art searches. Advisory support in identifying needs, structuring IP protection strategies, and planning initial IP roadmaps.
In-depth searches in patent databases to assess the novelty and inventive step of technical solutions, identify alternative solutions, and mitigate risks prior to filing formal patent applications.
Monitoring the geographic scope, status, and legal validity of published patents and applications to prevent third-party infringements (preliminary Freedom to Operate) and evaluate competitor positioning in key target markets.
Clearance and conflict searches for registered trademarks, alongside preliminary novelty and individual character checks for industrial design protection.
Gathering and processing techno-scientific and market intelligence for specific industries or technologies, including growth projections, sectoral segmentation, and identification of key market players.
Patentability and scientific analysis to identify emerging technology trajectories, guide institutional R&D priorities, and support tech transfer and commercialisation decisions.
Access to advanced methodologies and tools for collecting, filtering, processing, and querying scientific, technological, and business intelligence.
