IPR USAGE IN GLASGOW UNIVERSITY

IPR usage in Glasgow University

IPR usage in Glasgow University

Introduction

The Easy Access IP initiative has certainly provoked many strong views within the academic technology transfer community. It is only to be expected that there will be challenges ahead for its key proponents in trying to convince others to follow suit. One of the key arguments against the initiative made by UK educational institutions is that, by introducing a culture of “IP for free” Easy Access IP places unfair pressure on other universities to open the doors to their knowledge banks free. What is Easy Access IP?

The fundamental thinking behind the model is that, as is the case with the majority of universities, a relatively small percentage of the IP created by the University of Glasgow (estimated at around 20%) is responsible for the majority of its IP-generated revenue. Often this IP is relatively close to market, or there is a readily identifiable market opportunity, and so the cost-benefits analysis for developing this IP is clear. Yet the remaining 80% often presents a much bigger challenge. The resources required to develop, this IP to a stage where a commercial licensee is willing to pay a reasonable financial consideration for it can be disproportionate to the benefits ultimately obtained by the University. Easy Access IP is design to remove some of the hurdles involved in commercializing this very early stage technology and to replace what can be a lengthy and painstaking process with a commercially attractive, unspoken one (Vinton , 2008, 637-648).

Discussion and Analysis

Universities perceived by industry as placing too high a value on their IP assets and insisting on overly complex, bureaucratic licensing processes; and Industry, on the other hand, criticized for expecting to receive university IP for next to nothing and more for not investing in research and development activities. By making university IP available royalty-free, on simplified standard terms and conditions, Easy Access IP attempts to tackle these criticisms head on, challenges these long-held perceptions and, ultimately, throws down the gauntlet to industry to come and work with the universities. It is important to bear in mind that not all IP generated by the universities involved in the initiative transferred through the Easy Access IP route. Those technologies with an obvious route to market or which can be believed to have the prospect of sufficient commercial benefit for the university (the 20% referred to above) will continue to be commercialized in the traditional way (Smith, 2011, 89-145).

The Easy Access IP model acknowledges that industry is much better place to take these initial ideas and translate them into commercially valuable, marketable products. By accepting this reality, universities can focus their time, money and resources in areas where they can truly add value whilst at the same time ensuring the flow of knowledge to industry. In November of last year, the University of Glasgow launched Easy Access IP, a radical new initiative that turns the traditional academic technology transfer model on its ...