In the present article actual matters of technological innovations are dealt with in the context of research universities, mainly taking into account the circumstances in Estonia. For the description of a process of technological innovation one of the cognitive models has been used. Patents are an integral part of technological innovation, notably in the case of development of new products. The patent statistics given in the article shows that despite wishes, the business sector and universities are not enough oriented internationally. Besides that, there is a lack of enterprises and R&D performing firms, who might play a considerable role in the economy of Estonia, in these key sectors. Amendments to the Utility Models Act would enable to increase the legal certainty of the protection of utility models and to make it more attractive for the universities and SME-s.
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