The sixth edition of Globaltech, held at the Marie Curie Auditorium, was opened by Rosa Mª Donat Beneito, Vice-Rector for Innovation and Transfer of the University of Valencia; Pedro Carrasco, director of the PCUV; and Guillermo Palao Moreno, Professor of UV Private International Law.
During the opening, Rosa Mª Donat stressed the importance of knowledge transfer from university to society and the usefulness of business secrecy as a tool for ensuring it safely. He also valued the role of Globaltech as "an instrument that contributes to improving advice for entrepreneurial initiatives arising from academic research in the Universitat de València environment".
Pedro Carrasco recalled the six-year history of the day and highlighted the collaboration between legal, university and business that characterizes the Science Park: "Protecting knowledge does not mean restricting it, but making it safe for society".
"Protecting knowledge is no longer an option, it is a strategic necessity; and if that is true for companies, it is even more so for universities and research centres", Ramón Girona, professor of Commercial Law at the University of Valencia
Jaume Martí Miravalls, professor of commercial law, explained the differences between business secrets and patents. He pointed out that information can only be considered secret if it is valuable, confidential and has reasonable safeguards adapted to the structure and size of each organization. When choosing the path of protection, he summed up: "If a company expects its product to be successful within a reasonable period of time, it is worth patenting; but if it is knowledge that can remain exclusive for longer, the best option is to exploit it as a business secret".
The round table, moderated by Jesús Olavarría Iglesias (UV), brought together Javier Maira (CSIC), Clara Gómez Clarí (ICMUV), Ramón M. Girona Domingo (UV), Pilar Domingo-Calap (I2SysBio- Evolving Therapeutics) and Raúl Ruiz Rodríguez (University of Alicante).
From the CSIC, Javier Maira provided data and practice: "We submit between 120 and 150 patents a year and protect between 10 and 15 technologies through business secrecy". On when to opt for this route, he said: "We use it with non-patentable commercially valuable technologies or to protect procedures where the patent offers weaker coverage". And about how they verify authorship and date: "We register the secrets by blockchain in the Voltium platform, judicially accepted in more than 180 countries".
The lawyer Ramón Girona summarized the cultural turn: "Protecting knowledge is no longer an option, it is a strategic necessity; and if this is true for companies, it is even more so for universities and research centers". He refuted the false dilemma between open and secret science: "Business secrets do not obscure knowledge: they empower it so that, when transformed, it comes out as real innovation".
"I tell my students that you can’t talk about science in the cafeteria; you have to know what is disclosed and what is saved," Pilar Domingo-Calap, I2SysBio researcher and co-founder of Evolving Therapeutics
Jesús Olavarría insisted on prevention: "It is not enough to sign confidentiality agreements; we need a real culture of prevention" and recalled that "being right in a court is only part of the way; you must be able to execute it".
From the lab, Pilar Domingo-Calap shared protocols and experience: "We change access keys on the same day someone leaves the lab. Guest staff does not access these codes". And she conveyed a pedagogical message: "I tell my students that you can’t talk about science in the cafeteria; you have to know what is disclosed and what is kept". On the management of relations with companies and centres, she added: "No one meets without signing an NDA. The culture of protection cannot be improvised".
Clara Gomez pointed out the change in the research career: "For years publication weighed more than protection of results. We have now started to protect from the beginning: first we patent and then we publish". She also claimed the role of the university: "The university must encourage knowledge to reach society".
Professor Raúl Ruiz Rodríguez warned about the transnational component of many disputes: "It is very possible that, if they suffer a breach of secrecy, have an international component: around 15% of disputes involve parties in different states". Its operational recommendation: "It is good to agree on jurisdiction and applicable law; it is not enough to include the clause, it must be drafted in such a way that a dispute for secrecy is clearly understood".
On the reaction to infringements, Ramón Girona was clear: "You have to react immediately. The Business Secrets Act allows for measures to preserve confidentiality in the process-restricted access to documents, views behind closed doors-but the key remains prevention and documentation". At the contractual level, Jesús Olavarría suggested strengthening penal clauses and considering mediation or arbitration to resolve quickly.
"It is quite possible that, if they suffer a breach of secrecy, it has an international component: about 15% of the disputes involve parties in different states", Raúl Ruiz, professor of Private International Law at the University of Alicante
Relive the VI edition of Globaltech
The meeting closed with a nod to the future. Jesús Olavarría highlighted the role of Globaltech as a point of connection between research, business and law and advanced that the seventh edition will address "research with foreign elements".
With this sixth edition, Globaltech consolidates itself as a benchmark in promoting the culture of protecting knowledge, boosting public-private partnerships and reinforcing the role of the UV Science Park as a space where science, Innovation and law combine to generate social value.
Do not miss the photo gallery of the VI edition of the conference Globaltech