ISO 56001, a lever for innovation

In the world of innovation, there are two tools that are well known to R&D departments: standards and patents. Patents act as an incentive for innovators, while voluntary standards—which are less readily thought of because they are often confused with regulations—act as an incentive for distributors.

And one serves the other. An example today is ISO 56001, a voluntary standard for innovation management, which aims to equip innovators with the tools they need to develop and monitor their innovations in the form of a management system, with intellectual property as an essential building block.

Standards and patents: an inseparable pair

It is often believed that patents are reserved for start-ups and large companies. This is not the case, according to experts at the National Institute of Industrial Property (INPI), an organization under the supervision of the French Ministry of Finance, which is to patents what AFNOR is to standards. However, France is lagging behind in this area, with only 14,700 applications filed in 2022, compared to more than 24,000 for Germany One of the reasons? The process is considered too complex and difficult to understand. "However, patents provide effective protection for inventions," points out Gonzalo Doisenbant, an engineer and examiner at the INPI. "They guarantee industrial property rights for the invention, preventing counterfeiting, generating revenue through licensing, and facilitating communication with customers and investors."

To help French companies and organizations take the plunge, there is one solution: intellectual property management standards. At the international level, the NF EN ISO 56005 standard , published in 2020, provides recommendations for protecting intellectual property. In addition, the French normative document FD X50-146 , developed under the auspices of AFNOR and revised in July 2023, provides concrete and practical guidance to support stakeholders in their efforts. "The texts are similar, but FD X50-146 is more precise and perfectly reflects the French position on the subject," summarizes Gonzalo Doisenbant, who also sits on the AFNOR standardization committee on innovation management.

Managing innovation, a major economic challenge

"These standards indicate, at each stage of the development of a technical solution, the checks to be carried out and the steps to be taken, describing in particular the means of traceability and security of the invention," explains Pauline Michel, an examining engineer at the INPI and also a member of the AFNOR standardization commission. Sometimes, everything happens very quickly, and by the time the technical solution is ready to be marketed, it is already too late to think about protecting it. It is therefore necessary to learn how to keep it secret and put processes in place to prevent any disclosure before filing a patent application."

When will ISO 56001 certification be available?

At the international level, the challenge currently focuses on the umbrella standard, ISO 56001. Under discussion for more than three years, the text is now entering the public inquiry phase. You can participate from September 28 to December 1, 2023. via your Norminfo account here. ISO 56001 treats intellectual property as a management system, similar to ISO 9001 for quality. And, like ISO 9001, it will be certifiable. Independent auditors will therefore be called upon to observe companies' practices in terms of innovation management, including intellectual property, and, if the requirements are met, to issue certification. The benefit? "Providing investors with guarantees of confidence by proving that the company or organization is managing its inventions properly, and therefore that the financing is all the more likely to be successful," anticipates Pauline Michel. It generally takes a year before such certification is commercially available.

Intellectual property, a matter of sovereignty

Beyond investment, protecting innovation is also a matter of sovereignty. Faced with the dynamism of the US and Asia in terms of patents, Europe must catch up and better secure its inventions. Defending European sovereignty is part of the EU's standardization strategy. "In this context, existing and future standards provide tools that our companies and organizations must adopt in order to remain at the forefront," insists Gonzalo Doisenbant.

To raise awareness of these issues among stakeholders, AFNOR is organizing an information day on ISO 56001 on October 10, 2023. You can register here. Members of the innovation standardization committee will engage with companies, universities, research centers, and laboratories directly involved in the project. "Voluntary standardization is a lever for developing intellectual property and thus positively impacting business activity," concludes Pauline Michel. "Now is the time to seize this tool to make a difference, structure innovation efforts, improve performance, and strengthen legal certainty."