Intellectual Property System, Particularly Patents, Utilized in University – Industry Collaboration and Start-Up Company – Experiences in Japan
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Intellectual Property System, particularly Patents, utilized in University – Industry Collaboration and Start-up Company – Experiences in Japan Intellectual Property System, particularly Patents, utilized in University – Industry Collaboration and Start-up Company – Experiences in Japan Final Report In fulfillment of the Study Cum Research fellowship program Sponsored by the Japan Patent Office (29/8/2017 to 28/12/2017) Submitted by C.N.Shashidhara Deputy Controller of Patents & Designs Indian Patent Office, Chennai Supervised by Dr. Yorimasa Suwa, Senior Researcher Asia-Pacific Industrial Property Center, Japan Institution for promoting Invention and Innovation (APIC-JIPII) With Special advisers Prof. Mitsuhiko Oi, Head International Collaboration Division, Office of Research and Innovation, Tokyo Institute of Technology, And Prof. Makiko Takahashi, Ph.D, Vice Chair of RMAN-J Research Manager and Administrator network Japan Kanazawa Institute of Technology, Toronomon Graduate school This Report is a mandatory requirement of this study cum research fellowship program; views and findings are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views and policy of his organization or sponsor of this study. Intellectual Property System, particularly Patents, utilized in University – Industry Collaboration and Start-up Company – Experiences in Japan Abstract More often Patent holders find it difficult to commercialize their Patents. Patents held by Universities and educational institutions are no exception. In the top 100 revenue generating industries for 2015 published by Reuters almost half of the Universities are from United States of America. With Japan ranking second in the above list there are valuable lessons that can be learned to achieve success in utilization of Patents by studying the methodology adapted in Universities in Japan. Further in India there is lot of support to start-ups with the intention to build a strong ecosystem for nurturing innovation and startup in the Country. The methodology adapted involves study of literature, Quantitative and Qualitative analysis. Quantitative analysis is carried out with the number of forward citations as an indicator of technological impact and IP value. The trend for the same is analyzed for the Indian Institute of Technology and Tokyo Institute of technology. From the Quantitative analysis where it is found that there are more occurrence of forward citations for joint applications with the Universities, it can be fairly concluded that the more active an University engages in joint research the more valuable patents it will generate. Qualitative analysis relies on mainly on the expert opinion obtained through the in depth interviews from the representatives of some of the supporting organizations and SMEs and their experience in the supporting activity and running the SMEs successfully. The scheme of the interview questions are as below. 1. What is the most important IP support to Universities and Start-up companies from Government? 2. How should University IP office or its TLO work for growing the start-up companies from the aspect of IP? 3. What is the most important IP skills the leaders of the university IP office/TLO/Start- up companies must have? The experts interviewed are from the three broad following categories. 1. Governmental Agency – Japan Science and Technology Agency (JST), National Center for Industrial Property Information and Training (INPIT) 2. University TLO / Venture Plaza 3. SMEs – Two from Engineering and Two from Pharma / life sciences The study recommends for providing a platform for creators and innovators as per the Indian National IPR policy 2016 similar to New Technology Presentation Meetings, University Technology Exhibitions and Open Innovation Seminars conducted by JST in addition to providing databases like J-store of JST and PLID of INPIT and also a portal Site for Industry- Academia-Government Collaboration. Experts interviewed during the interview conducted as part of the research are also of the opinion that networking similar to that of University Network for Innovation and Technology Transfer (UNITT) has to be established and University IP offices should have full-fledged and dedicated IP personnel as early as possible. Those with experience in setting up the industry like TLO, incubation plaza and owners of the company are of the view that support is necessary for business development and more assistance in gap funding. i Intellectual Property System, particularly Patents, utilized in University – Industry Collaboration and Start-up Company – Experiences in Japan Table of Contents Abstract ....................................................................................................................................... i Table of Contents ....................................................................................................................... ii List of Figures ........................................................................................................................... iii List of Tables ............................................................................................................................ iii 1.1 The Problem Consciousness of the Research ................................................................... 2 1.2 Focus of the study: ........................................................................................................... 4 1.3 Expected Findings and benefits: ...................................................................................... 4 2. Basic Information and Previous Studies ................................................................................ 4 2.1 Information available through literature .......................................................................... 4 2.2 Previous Studies ................................................................................................................... 6 2.3 Necessity of Startups ........................................................................................................ 7 3. Methodology of the Research Study .................................................................................... 12 4. Results and Analysis ............................................................................................................ 14 4.1 – Quantitative Analysis .................................................................................................. 14 4.2 – Literature Review............................................................................................................ 17 4.3 – Qualitative Analysis - Interview Summary ................................................................. 35 5. Implications and Recommendations .................................................................................... 41 5.1 – Priority Actions ........................................................................................................... 43 5.2 – Information through websites...................................................................................... 44 5.3 Limitations and Further studies ...................................................................................... 44 Acknowledgements .................................................................................................................. 46 References ................................................................................................................................ 47 Appendixes: Minutes of the interview I: Interview with Mr.Hashimoto Masahiro, Ph.D, Director of Department, Professor ...... A-1 II: Interview with Mr.Yuzaburo Kanezaki, Senior Intellectual Property Advisor for University-Industry Collaboration ..................................................................................... A-6 III: Interview with Mr.Yoshio Nanba, Japan Science and Technology Agency .............. A-12 IV: Interview with Mr.Kohei Yasuda, President / CEO, Campus Create Co., Ltd. Technology Licensing Organization (TLO) ..................................................................... A-16 V: Interview with Mr.Akimoto, Chief Incubation Manager, Yokohama Venture Plaza . A-21 VI: Interview with Mr.Manabu Bonkohara, Chairman & CEO, ZyCube. ....................... A-25 VII: Interview with Mr.Kajiro Sakamoto, President, Street Design Corporation. ........... A-28 VIII: Interview with Dr. Atsushi Imaizumi, Visiting Professor, Tokyo University of Pharmacy and Life Sciences ............................................................................................ A-31 IX: Interview withDr. Setsuko Hashimoto, President & CEO, CellSeed. ....................... A-34 ii Intellectual Property System, particularly Patents, utilized in University – Industry Collaboration and Start-up Company – Experiences in Japan List of Figures Figure 1 The U-I Collaborative scheme................................................................................... 10 Figure 2 Outline of a TLO ....................................................................................................... 20 Figure 3 Interaction of university IP office with TLO ............................................................. 21 Figure 4 Operations of JST ...................................................................................................... 22 Figure 5 Program scheme of A-STEP ..................................................................................... 24 Figure 6 The process to Start-ups ...........................................................................................