Work due 01 Jan 2099

COSTS RELATED TO DEVELOPING, PRODUCING AND UPDATING THE INDICATOR (as available) Esp@cenet is available through the website of the EPO. PATSTAT would not be as widely available — it is not intended for general searches by the public but for statistical use. However, organisations could have access to it free of charge by merely agreeing to its terms. Access should not be a problem, therefore, for calculating the indicator. The suggested methodology provides a reasonably straight‑forward approach to the calculating the proposed indicator, provided the data and tools necessary for such a calculation are available. According to experts consulted, the sole database to provide such data and tools in the manner required for systematic statistical use would be PATSTAT. However, as PATSTAT is only now becoming available, significant work remains in setting up the necessary scripts, developing an adequate interface system, and training research and technical personnel. As a result, the initial calculation of the proposed indicator would require at least five to six months and require considerable financial support. Nevertheless, it is expected that, once the process has been set up, a yearly updating of the indicator would not be expensive or time-consuming. Nevertheless, the wide coverage of the obtained results might still pose a problem, with additional work and time needed to determine the specific relevance of patent information.