The Hungarian Intellectual Property Office provides a patent accelerator to Széchenyi István University

The Hungarian Intellectual Property Office (HIO) and Széchenyi István University have been cooperating for a long time in order to ensure that the research results generated at the institution can reach practical utilization. The previous framework agreement helped the work of teachers and researchers in many areas, but experience showed that processes related to the protection of intellectual property could be further accelerated.

The parties renewed and expanded their partnership on November 21. According to this, the HIT continues to support the university in several areas, for example, providing speakers and mentors for innovation programs and helping to disseminate knowledge about the protection of intellectual property. A new element is that the office provides the institution with access to the so-called “patent fast track”. The service helps to identify promising technical solutions and develop an appropriate patent strategy through novelty research and early assessment of patentability. This makes it faster and easier to assess whether an invention is worth patenting.

“We find that harmonizing publication and patent requirements is a major challenge for universities – which are the largest research bases in our country. Scientific publications are essential for international rankings and researcher advancement, but premature disclosure can easily undermine novelty in a later patent procedure. The purpose of the fast track is precisely to provide assistance in this regard: by assessing patentability early, we provide institutions with reliable information within two months so that they can make a confident decision about publishing. We believe it is important that the conscious practice of filing first and publishing only afterwards becomes widespread. In addition, the service also saves universities money, as they do not need to have a full patent specification prepared at this stage of the process.”

– said Szabolcs Farkas, President of the Hungarian Intellectual Property Office, at the signing ceremony.

“The strategic goal of our institution is to ensure that research and development results are put into the utilization process with a sound industrial property protection basis and a professional background. Cooperation with the Hungarian Intellectual Property Office is a key pillar of this. Through the current agreement, our researchers can reach the decision points of patenting more quickly, which significantly increases the competitiveness of the university’s innovation ecosystem”

– emphasized Dr. Zsolt Kovács, Vice President for General and Education of the university.

Following the signing, Dr. Zsolt Kohus, head of the university’s Center for Ranking and Publication Management, said that the key player in the institution’s intellectual property activities is Uni Inno Zrt, established for knowledge utilization. The company’s tasks include promoting licensing and spinoff activities, strengthening industrial relations, and the market utilization of intellectual property. He added that the success of the work in this area is demonstrated by the fact that the number of intellectual property received increased two and a half times between 2023 and 2025, including the doubling of patent applications.