EIC Winter School 2025: IP and Legal Strategies for Deep Tech — two online sessions for EIC beneficiaries
- ›The EIC Winter School returns as two online sessions on 7 and 14 February 2025 focused on IP and legal strategies for deep tech.
- ›Sessions are aimed at EIC Pathfinder, Transition and Accelerator beneficiaries and are limited to 40 participants to keep them interactive.
- ›Session 1 covers intellectual property strategy and valorisation. Session 2 addresses patent and business legal security.
- ›Registration opens on the EIC Community Platform in early December. Priority goes to beneficiaries who register for both sessions.
- ›The programme is run by EIC Business Acceleration Services and forms part of ongoing EIC community training and peer learning activities.
EIC Winter School 2025: Intellectual Property and Legal Strategies for Deep Tech innovations
The European Innovation Council is organising a new edition of its Winter School on intellectual property and legal strategies tailored to deep tech innovators. The programme is split into two online sessions on Friday 7 February 2025 and Friday 14 February 2025. Each session lasts four hours and is designed primarily for EIC Pathfinder, Transition and Accelerator beneficiaries. The organisers say the training will help attendees protect and monetise their inventions and strengthen their legal readiness for partnerships and scaling.
Dates, structure and practical details
| Item | Details |
| Target audience | EIC Pathfinder, Transition and Accelerator beneficiaries |
| Session dates | 7 February 2025 and 14 February 2025 |
| Session length | 4 hours per session |
| Participant limit | Maximum 40 participants per session |
| Registration opens | Early December on the EIC Community Platform |
| Registration priority | Priority to EIC beneficiaries registering for both sessions |
| Format | Online training with expert trainers from the EIC ecosystem |
What the sessions will cover
Organisers describe the Winter School as a practical, interactive opportunity for deep tech entrepreneurs and researchers to learn IP management and legal strategies. Sessions combine core legal concepts with real life examples and trainer guidance. Topics highlighted by the EIC include how to secure inventions, avoid legal pitfalls, manage licensing and contracts, build partnership agreements and generally reduce legal exposure while increasing the commercial potential of an innovation.
How participation is organised
To keep sessions interactive the organisers cap attendance at 40 participants. Each training session is a standalone event and has its own registration. The EIC gives priority to beneficiaries who register for both sessions. The Community Platform will carry registration details from early December. Attendees are encouraged to sign up early because of the small group size. The Winter School forms part of the EIC Business Acceleration Services portfolio of recurrent activities on the EIC Community calendar.
Who should attend and what to expect
The training is aimed at teams and individuals who have received EIC Pathfinder, Transition or Accelerator funding. Typical useful attendees include founders, chief executives, technology transfer officers and legal or business leads within deep tech teams. The organisers promise practical insight and networking with EIC peers. The sessions should help participants select IP routes, prepare for investor due diligence related to IP, draft or negotiate basic contractual protections and map legal risks for licensing and partnerships.
Why IP and legal strategies matter for deep tech
Deep tech innovations tend to be capital intensive and take longer to reach market than consumer software. Intellectual property can be central to both attracting investment and protecting market position. At the same time patents cost money to file and maintain, and the protection they provide is territorial. Startups often need to choose which jurisdictions to prioritise. Other legal issues such as supplier agreements, collaboration contracts and employee invention clauses commonly cause friction during scaling or fundraising. Training that links IP and business law to commercial strategy can shorten the learning curve, but its impact depends on follow up legal work and budget available for filings and due diligence.
EIC Business Acceleration Services and community context
The Winter School is organised by the EIC Business Acceleration Services. The BAS provides a wider set of supports to EIC beneficiaries such as coaching, investor readiness, procurement support, market expansion programmes and partner matchmaking. EIC Community events are recurring activities intended to complement funding by offering training and peer learning. Participants are encouraged to consult the EIC Community Programme page and the BAS calendar for related workshops and services.
A pragmatic note on claims and outcomes
The Winter School is positioned as a way to 'secure an innovation or scaleup financial future' and to 'enhance value' through better IP and legal management. Those aims are reasonable as far as training can make teams aware of risks and options. However actual financial outcomes depend on subsequent legal work, filings, budget, commercial traction and enforcement capability. Attendance can reduce information asymmetries but will not remove practical constraints such as the costs of patent prosecution or the complexities of cross border licensing.
Next steps and contact
If you are an eligible EIC beneficiary note the early December registration window on the EIC Community Platform and consider registering for both sessions to receive priority. For related BAS offerings consult the EIC BAS calendar and the EIC Community Programme page. For questions about EIC Ecosystem services or technical help on the platform use the Community contact channels.
DISCLAIMER: This information is provided in the interest of knowledge sharing and should not be interpreted as the official view of the European Commission or any other organisation.