Dr. Aleš Rotar, Member of the Management Board and Director of Pharmaceutical Development and Production at Krka d.d. with Mr. Daren Tang, WIPO’s Director General (left) and Mrs. Karin Žvokelj, Director of the Slovenian Intellectual Property Office (right).
Photo: Marjan Verč, Institut “Jožef Stefan”, 2023
Justification: Krka, d. d., Novo mesto, one of the leading generic pharmaceutical companies, has been throughout its corporate development actively cooperating with national and foreign public-research organizations. Cooperation projects in the course of development of the new medicinal/pharmaceutical products and technologies are especially important in the field of essential components of their products, processes and other innovative solutions. Several of these partnerships resulted in establishment of long-term in-depth collaborations where corresponding findings and innovations are regularly protected with the appropriate intellectual property (IP) rights – from patents to trademarks – both on Slovenian and international level, focused on markets, where specific products are marketed. Furthermore, the appreciation and relevance of the IP assets is shown in diverse ways: Krka Awards for young researchers have become one the most renown national event which promotes science and innovation at young generations in more than 50 years of their existence, Krka has established a widespread system supporting and encouraging creative and innovative environment by awarding its employees for inventions and innovations, public campaigns, printed and electronic promotion materials, videos, presentations and discussions, etc. where different public channels are used. Furthermore, the company promotes cooperation between academia and business with participation at regional, domestic and international innovation competitions. Krka’s experts actively participate in different curricula at universities. Their company culture is oriented towards encouraging creative and innovative thinking both within and outside the company.
About the Prize
The aim is to stimulate Slovenian enterprises to intensify their cooperation with public research organisations. We wish to expose as a good practice those enterprises that are constantly and methodologically using the IP system in their business activities.
Slovenian enterprises are invited to apply via this link latest by the 5th of September / application deadline prolonged till 12th of September.
Info about the eligibility criteria and rating is available here.
Recipients of the WIPO awards from previous years can not apply again.
Evaluation commission members:
Alojz Barlič, Slovenian Intellectual Property Office (SIPO)
Nina Urbanič, Slovene Enterprise Fund
Christoph Kempf, IPEK – Institut für Produktentwicklung, Karlsruher Institut für Technologie (KIT)
More info about the WIPO Award Program
