The ‘Fighting Coronavirus' Platform

It is often said that times of crisis facilitate and accelerate innovation. The COVID-19 pandemic has presented urgent challenges on a global scale, ranging from the preservation of economic activity, to preventing the spread of novel coronavirus SARS-CoV-2 and saving lives. Perhaps recognising this, the EPO has recently launched a platform, 'Fighting Coronavirus', to facilitate knowledge transfer from published patent applications to those involved in the development of technologies to counter COVID-19.

As we know, patent applications often provide a wealth of information, which can guide innovators in solving problems and devising new inventions. However, it can be difficult to navigate the sheer volume of information in the patent system. Instead, innovators might tend to favour peer-reviewed journals as their primary source of information, meaning the information published in patent applications is largely ignored and underused.