NRW patent validation
North Rhine-Westphalia is characterized by a strong and permeable education system. Nevertheless, relative to the size of the state, the number of university inventions ready for application is low. The reasons for this are the comparatively low expenditure on research and development, as well as the low number of research-intensive large companies in patent-intensive sectors such as automotive engineering.
The aim of the "NRW Patent Validation" funding call is therefore to increase the application maturity of university inventions (prototype funding, proof-of-concept) and their application-oriented validation to improve the chances of exploitation through licensing, sale or through a spin-off from the university. This seems necessary because inventions and patents are often so far ahead of their time that it is too risky for companies to invest in them before proof-of-concept.