Creation of IP Culture in Universities & Advantages of Universities having an IP Culture Dr Duncan Matthews Queen Mary University of London

Intellectual property Intellectual property (IP) refers to the legal form of protection for invention, brands, designs and creative works. There are four main types of IP rights: (a)Patents (b)Copyright (c)Designs (d)Trademarks

The role of universities Education Research Third stream – commercialisation of IP

The university science base and IP Universities have a strong science base which is highly productive in creating “pure” research outputs such as publications and citations There is significant potential to transfer this knowledge to industry through IP Commercialising university research through technology transfer has significant potential to stimulate world-class innovation output

How universities commercialise their IP Collaborating with business on research projects Depends on experienced negotiators from both parties agreeing terms and conditions for IP within an adequate framework Making agreements with companies to exploit IP already developed in university research Requires dedicated expertise in licensing, spin-out creation, venture capital, market research, marketing and IP management

The challenges: barriers to the commercialisation of university IP Lack of clarity over ownership of IP in research collaborations Time and cost involved in negotiating research collaborations, even preventing some deals from being completed Business concern that some universities overvalue their IP, underestimating the cost of bringing the technology to the market Generating income from IP takes time and success is not guaranteed

Possible solutions: facilitating the commercialisation of university IP Define at the outset who owns what at the outset of negotiations – and be flexible in negotiations Ownership of IP should be proportionate – the party that makes the biggest contribution (intellectual as well as financial) should have rights on IP ownership Public funding to universities is intended to promote the public good rather than to raise revenues Academics should receive incentives from universities to produce commercial IP - recruitment, retention and enabling research

Evidence of an IP culture in universities Technology transfer offices Innovation clusters Spin-out companies IP administration IP education

Creating an IP culture in universities Top-down university support and investment Bottom-up involvement and participation by academic staff Understanding pressures on and motivation of academic staff Building IP awareness amongst university faculty members Facilitating IP teaching and learning activities and integrating IP teaching into the curricula

Conclusion Before an “IP culture” can exist “IP awareness” is needed