Budapest, 03 July 2025 – The two key public actors in Hungary’s innovation ecosystem, the National Research, Development and Innovation Office (NRDI Office) and the Hungarian Intellectual Property Office (SZTNH), have reinforced their cooperation. Through this renewed strategic cooperation agreement, the two offices aim to align their support for research and development and their efforts to encourage industrial property rights even more closely.

The agreement was signed by Ádám Kiss, President of the NRDI Office, and Szabolcs Farkas, President of SZTNH. Both institutions are committed to strengthening the knowledge-based economy by using the tools available in their respective domains to support targeted research, development and innovation activities of Hungarian research institutions and enterprises. For the past ten years, the NRDI Office has been the leading public funder in this field, while SZTNH, as the professional authority responsible for the protection of intellectual property in Hungary and abroad, ensures that innovative Hungarian ideas can be turned into real, marketable outcomes. The goals, methods and tools of the two organisations complement each other well, making strategic cooperation a logical step. Coordinating their activities offers benefits which, when consciously harnessed, can further improve the performance of Hungary’s innovation ecosystem and the effectiveness of related government efforts.

Both the NRDI Office and SZTNH are committed to strengthening cooperation between universities and companies. They also place great importance on and support the continuation of the positive trend that Hungarian higher education institutions are increasingly making use of intellectual property protection tools. In 2024, universities filed 143 patent applications, twice as many as in the previous year. This is particularly significant because these patents not only serve to protect RDI results, but also provide the foundation for new, knowledge-based spin-off enterprises emerging from university research, thereby contributing to the strengthening of the domestic deep tech sector which generates high added value.

Commenting on the cooperation, Ádám Kiss from the NRDI Office highlighted: “Our tasks have always linked us closely, so professional cooperation is nothing new, but the time has come to elevate it to a higher level. One of the priority goals of the John von Neumann Programme is to double the number of patents in Hungary by the end of the decade. Experience shows that proper protection of intellectual property is essential for the domestic exploitation of research and innovation results. The new agreement will therefore continue to focus on reinforcing the industrial property approach in the RDI funding system, as well as jointly developing our capacities related to IP protection and increasing awareness of industrial property in Hungary.”

“To strengthen Hungary’s innovation ecosystem, it is essential that the promotion of research and development and the protection of intellectual property work in close harmony. Our cooperation with the NRDI Office has already delivered many tangible results. Thanks to this, the presence of an IP mindset in RDI calls has contributed to the rise in the number of applications for different types of protection. The strategic partnership also enables us to jointly increase the number of domestic IP professionals. This in turn helps ensure that scientific and technological results become internationally exploitable, value-creating solutions more quickly and effectively. SZTNH remains committed to contributing its expertise and tools to boosting the competitiveness of Hungarian innovation,” stressed Szabolcs Farkas, President of SZTNH.

This renewed collaboration, based on new foundations and involving mutual support and coordination of each other’s professional activities, covers important areas such as expanding professional capacities related to IP protection – including specialist training and talent development – aligning the RDI funding system with intellectual property protection, knowledge transfer and sharing of best practices, shaping public attitudes through joint communication and awareness programmes, and developing joint policy proposals and strategic initiatives.