Public Research Institutions and Their Connections with Patents of Companies in Technological and Regional Development

Abstract

The interaction between companies and universities is a central theme in discussions on technology transfer. In Brazil, there is an urgent need to raise awareness of the importance of this cooperative relationship for local and regional development. In this sense, it is observed that the innovation process is strategic so that an institution is strengthened and can fulfill its social mission in economic and regional development. Piauí, according to the IBGE census, has a population estimate of 3,273,227 in 2019. Piaui's per capita income is R$ 817.00 and ranks 24th in Brazil in this regard. With these data, the need arises to intervene scientifically in this reality. The objective of this study is to investigate the partnership relationships between companies and public research institutions in Piauí, in the development and transfer of technologies. Research Institutions are the main promoters of technological development in the state, however, for these technologies to reach productive arrangements, strategic alignment in the management of these technologies is necessary. Documentary research was used, with a quantitative approach. In the exploratory search, INPI's databases (National Institute of Industrial Property) and of Espacenet ( European Patent Office ) was used. We sought to select the companies with relevant economic representativeness in the state scenario and investigated the patent information. In the analysis of the data obtained, the Competitiveness Ranking of the CLP States (Public Leadership) was used to compare Piauí with well positioned states. According to the results found, it is observed that the transfer of technology between research institutions and companies is not evident. However, we can see that there are partnership initiatives with small companies in conducting research that can project a change in this scenario. The low number of patents and public/private partnerships in driving innovation in the state of Piauí, may be related to the low index evidenced by the Competitiveness Ranking of States - CLP.