Adamson University
Civil Engineering Department
Case Study 4-Creating an Innovative Environment with Licensing & Insulating a Nation's Homes CE 308-Intellectual Property Submitted by: Moton, John Kyle Lopez, Matthew Chandler Aguirre, John Mark Submitted to: Dr. Tomas U. Ganiron, Jr
Creating an Innovative Environment with Licensing and Technology Transfer
Inova Unicamp Innovation Agency
Country / Territory:
Brazil
IP right(s):
Patents, Trademarks
Date of publication:
October 14, 2010
Last update:
September 16, 2015
Inova Unicamp Innovation Agency • Internationally recognized for its excellence in teaching and research, the University of Campinas (Unicamp) in Brazil is a leading public institution based in Campinas, São Paulo. • Inova’s goal is to strengthen partnerships between Unicamp and companies, government agencies and other organizations to create teaching and research opportunities that will contribute to the economic and social development of Brazil. • Among Inova’s wide range of activities, many are related to the innovations developed at Unicamp by over 2,000 researchers throughout its 22 campus research centers.
IP Management • Unicamp’s history with IP began in 1989, when it filed its first three patent applications with Brazil’s National Institute of Industrial Property (INPI) • Interest in IP and cooperation between universities and companies have been steadily increasing in Brazil. • The surge in interest of utilizing the research capabilities of universities, Inova has deemed it essential to secure IP rights (IPRs) for practically all of its innovations.
IP Management • The Faculty of Medical Sciences had filed 33 patent applications and signed four licensing agreements by the end of 2008 • Unicamp had filed only one international patent application; by the end of 2008, it had filed 32. • Unicamp’s Institute of Chemistry has gone the furthest in implementing what it has learned about the importance of protecting IP, and by 2008 it had filed 214 patent applications.
IP Management • Professor Fernando Galembeck, the main inventor of two licensed out technologies said that "if we don't have patents and we don't license them, inventions won't be transformed into real commercial products and processes. And if we only publish the results, we will have to pay tomorrow for the fruits of our own work"
Patents and Trademarks • Twenty years after Unicamp’s first patent application, the university has filed nearly 600 patent applications at INPI, a vast majority of which can be attributed to the efforts of Inova. • With the help of Inova, as of late 2010 Unicamp had filed 22 international applications. • They registered thirteen trademarks and secured authorship of ten computer programs. • Inova continues to file patent applications, and in February 2010 filed an international application for a new salmonella vaccine.
Medical Devices and Products can be Patentable • Devices and products for practicing medical methods can be patentable, but the methods themselves are not patentable. This is partly because a patent must not prevent doctors from curing and preventing illnesses and partly because the methods can have different effects on different patients. Therefore, they are not reproducible.
Licensing • A major focus of Inova’s activities is the licensing out of its developed technologies to companies and other public or private entities. • Licensing focuses primarily on the technology transfer of brands, patents and computer software.
Products based on technologies licensed out by the Unicamp • A test to identify the main cause of genetic deafness in newborn babies. • A phytotherapeutic medicine, produced from a substance found in soybeans, to treat menopausal symptoms. • A polymer-clay nanocomposite that can be used as raw material for a wide range of products. • A reagent for in-situ and ex-situ destruction of environmental contaminants.
Research and Development and Partnerships • Because Inova is primarily focused on technology transfer, fostering innovative R&D, assisting Unicamp’s researchers in the licensing of innovations and building strong partnerships between companies and organizations in the public and private sectors is of significant importance. • One such example was a technology invented by Professor Licio Velloso of the Faculty of Medical Sciences. • Injection of funds such as these serve a twofold purpose: first, it allows Unicamp’s researchers to continue innovating, and second, it gives Inova new technologies to use to develop new partnerships.
Business Results • The creation of Inova has brought many tangible benefits to Unicamp. Licensing out technologies brought in much needed revenue, and by the end of 2008 the five technologies that were commercialized in Brazil earned the university some R$ 900,000 in royalties. • The university’s efforts into technology transfer caught the attention of the Brazilian government, and in 2008 it received state funding for a new Research and Innovation Hub at the main campus in Campinas. • Beyond financial gains, Inova has revitalized many of Unicamp’s research facilities.
Business Results • Inova’s licensing and technology transfer scheme changed all that, and research centers are seeing their technologies commercialized with real social benefits • Inova’s success has also allowed the university to help other public science and technology institutions in Brazil establish technology transfer systems through its “InovaNIT” project.
Insulating a Nation's Homes
IG Kogyo Co., Ltd.
Country / Territory: Japan IP right(s):
Patents
Date of publication: February 14, 2011 Last update:
July 10, 2012
IG Kogyo Co., Ltd. • After working for many years as a carpenter specializing in building shrines and temples in Yamanashi prefecture, Japan, Mr. Takashi Ishikawa grew concerned at the rising death rate in the region due to cerebral stroke.
Idea of the Invention
Patent Information • Mr. Ishikawa went to the Japan Patent Office (JPO) • He discovered that urethane is made by adding a foaming agent to resin materials called polyol and polyisocianate and then mixing them with a machine. • Waited for the patent of the urethane to expire to avoid infringement
Research and Development • Mr. Ishikawa started research and development (R&D) into how urethane could be used for a wall building material. • Mr. Ishikawa thought that it would be better to try and introduce his idea to a larger company with the necessary R&D and manufacturing infrastructure already in place.
Research and Development • After a long period of trial and error, he was finally able to develop a technology that sped up the chemical reaction, thus significantly accelerating the solidification speed of urethane. • Building on the success of IGTRC, IG Kogyo continues to place great importance on R&D into all of its new products.
Patents, Trademarks and Industrial Designs • From combing through numerous patent applications at the JPO in the mid 1970s, Mr. Ishikawa was well aware early on of the importance of the intellectual property (IP) system. • In order to protect its company image, it has applied for and received trademark registration for four different stylistic versions of its company name with the JPO.
Business Results • IG Kogyo’s unique use of patent information, R&D and the IP system has had resounding success for the company. • Starting out as only a dream that no one would listen to, as of early 2011 IG Kogyo has a forty percent market share of the exterior siding industry in Japan. • The company has raised its capital to over US $3.1 million. • IG Kogyo has also received certification from the International Organization for Standardization (ISO), with ISO 9001 certification for quality management practices in 2000 and ISO 14001 certification (minimal negative environmental impact) in 2003, 2004 and 2007 for its factories.