A valorização das patentes na área de Química

Abstract

In times of excessive information, identifying relevant information is important for researchers and inventors. The patent is a privileged source of technological information and is characterized by standardization, reliability, accessibility and comprehensiveness. The technological information present in patents, for the most part, will not be available in other types of publication. The focus of this study is to investigate if the scientific community, in the chemistry area, employs the technological information contained in patents. For this purpose, a survey of researchers in the area was carried out with the intention of identifying if they are consulting and using patents in their work. Overall 66 post-graduate Chemistry programs exist in Brazil and 49 were selected because they had a CAPES rating equal to, or higher, than 4. A Total of 421 replies to the survey were received. The areas of greatest concentration in are Materials and Fine Chemistry. It was found that 42.8% of respondents routinely consulted patents in the course of their work. Of these, more than 90% consider the patent as a source of relevant information. The mode of patent considered most useful by the surveyed researchers is the Patent of Invention. Among the researchers who consult patents, criticisms were registered regarding the content of patents and technical details. In the current context, the preference for publishing scientific articles prevails over the interest in patent deposits. More than 72% of the respondents stated that in their institutions mechanisms exist to encourage patent deposits. The delay in patent processing by the National Institute of Industrial Property (INPI) was also cited by the authors as a motive for not depositing patents.