Technology transfer between Universities and Industry in Spain - Challenges and

opportunities under the Innovation Union

Dr. José Pablo ZAMORANO RODRIGUEZ

Head of Technical Section Deputy Directorate for Technology Transfer

Spanish Ministry of Economy and Competitiveness (MINECO)

Workshop on Innovation UnionAnkara, 12-13 March 2013

Spanish Ministry of Economy and Competitiveness (MINECO)

MINECO

State Secretariat for Trade

State Secretariat for Research, Development

and Innovation

State Secretariat of Economy and Support to

Enterprises

General Secretariat for Technology and

Innovation

General Directorate for Innovation &

Competitiveness

General Directorate for Scientific & Technical

Research

Deputy Directorates

Science, Technology and Innovation Act (2011)

KT in two directions: Universities and PROs

Industry

Private law applicable to contracts with the

industry

Open Access – A mandate for public R+D

funds

R+D results must be communicated to

institutions to allow proper IP protection

Researchers must collaborate in TT

Researchers get part of the economic benefits

obtained by their institutions from

exploiting R+D results

5-year leave for researchers to work on private entities – this

period will be considered in the R+D qualifications

Part-time private contract to work in spin-

offs created by / with equity shares from their

institutions

≥ 33% in PROs

50-60% (average) in Universities

Mandatory for R+D results largely funded by

public grants

Spanish Science, Technology and Innovation Strategy 2013-2020

Detecting high potential R+D groups and technologies

Implementing Competitive intelligence and Technology Watch systems

Defining pathways to protect research results aimed at facilitating its transfer and application

Establishing efficient tech transfer and commercialization of R+D outputs

Fostering networking of all actors, leading to stable public-private collaboration

Promoting the role of R+D+I managers (public & private sectors)

Spanish National Scientific and Technical R & I Work Programme 2013-2016

More and better educated human resources allocated to public and private R+D+i

Higher quality of scientific and technical research

Stronger capacities and international leadership of R+D+i performers

Promoting business leadership in R+D+i

Easier generation and growth of technology-based companies (spin-offs) and reinforcement of investors networks

Increasing public-private R+D+i collaboration, by developing interface and communication structures and by promoting the

assessment and valorization of R+D results

Promotion of the internationalization of R+D+i activities and of an active play in the ERA

Improved public awareness of science, technology and innovation and increased dissemination of publicly funded

R+D+i outputs

Objectives of the

R&D&I WP 2013-2016

EC recommendation on the management of IP in KT activities and Code of Practice for universities and other PROs (2008)

Inclusion of KT in the strategy of universities and PROsEstablishment and dissemination of policies and procedures to manage IP in line with the Code of PracticeDevelopment of KT capacities and skills in

universities and PROs and raising the awareness and skills of students regarding IP, KT and entrepreneurshipFacilitation of cross-border collaboration and KT under the national IPR ownership regime

Promotion of Open Access, while keeping a balanced protection of IP

Monitoring and reviewing progress made by universities and PROs in KTImplementing the Code of Practice as a basis for (i)

National guidelines and legislation on management of IP and KT by universities and PROs (ii) Model agreements on research cooperation with third countries (iii) Other measures to promote KT (iv) New related policies of funding schemes

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KT in Spain under the focus of the EC recommendation (2008)

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Now, let’s get to the real Spanish McCoy…

Authored by Alejandro Ramos; Reproduced under a Creative Commons BY-SA 2.0 licence

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IP and KT Strategy

IP policies and

procedures

KT capacities and skills

Have each institution defining IP+KT strategy

Mandate its dissemination - Website

Link to R+D fundingDefine common guides (nation,

region, sectors)DisseminateMandate definition by each

institutionDo not mess KT with other functions

Have KTO represented at high-level

Develop a professional career for KT managers

Lessons learnt from the implementation of the EC recommendation (2008)

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Cross-border collaboration

and KT

Design specific policy aspects – e.g. choice of law

Translate into English (at least)Refer to international

standards (e.g. EU FP’s)

Open AccessMandate Open Access for

publicly funded R+DNetwork institutional archives

Monitoring and

reviewing

Implement a national monitoring scheme

Nominate dedicated officers

Lessons learnt from the implementation of the EC recommendation (2008)

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Basic research

Applied research

Proof of concept

Working appearance

modelPrototyp

eFirst

modelFirst batch

RESEARCH DEVELOPMENT PRODUCT

INNOVATION (Products and Services)

Results

Results

Results

Results

Results

Improving the offer

Increasing the demand

INNOVATION

The lineal innovation model… yet?

Improving the offer

• Bigger projects• Pools of results from

different projects

Pooling research results

• Protecting IP• Going forward into the

commercial value chainValorisation

• Enforcing demand-driven research

• Assessing exploitability

Selecting research results

IMPROVING the OFFER WILL MEAN

REDUCING the

NUMBER of

RESULTS PLACED in

the TT MARKET

At least until the RDI system is re-structured

Improving the technology offer by valorising through IP protection

IP titles as a valorisation tool

Focus on what the results do and how – not why Objective evaluation by third parties (the IP registers) Databases on IPR titles are freely accessible IP titles follow a common structure IP titles are perceived as proof of reliability IP is an industrial instrument

What – Helps identifying the market How – Helps defining the product or process

With no particular interest in accepting the application

Easier comparisons

Even if surrounded by a lot of misconceptions

With search and follow-up functionalities

Never forget this!

IP titles - research-related features

Documents are generated Reports from the IP offices help assessing research originality and inventiveness Follow-up in the long term is easier (zillions of journals vs. a few IP offices)

Good for a CV!

Improving the technology offer by valorising through IP protection

Valorisation by advancing into the commercial value chain

Going forward into the commercial value chain

Validation Proof of Concept Up-scaling Prototyping Demonstration Standardisation

We shall ask ourselves Are this activities to be publicly funded? Selection - How and who? Performed by the same research groups / institutions?

Improving the technology offer by selecting research results

Enforcing demand-driven research

“If I had asked my customers what they wanted, they would have said:

a faster horse”

Henry Ford, automotive industrialist(may be apocryphal)

Build trust in a relationship before asking to see the skeletons in the closet

Assessing exploitability

Programmes supporting “Market studies”, “Business plans”, “Plans for

exploitation”… must ensure that these will address the real customers in KT:

investors and companies Investors’ and companies’ needs and

expectations are highly different from those of the end users

A celiac wants gluten-free food, the food company wants a method to ensure it can meet a legal standard

to label the food as gluten-free

Improving the technology offer by selecting research results

Increasing the demand

The role of KT Managers

Inclusion of KT in the strategy of universities and PROs

Development of KT capacities and skills in universities and PROs…

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EC Recommendation

Commitment 21Facilitating Effective Collaborative Research and Knowledge Transfer “…Mechanisms are also needed to further strengthen knowledge transfer offices in PROs…"

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The role of KT Managers

Spanish national programmes directly funding KTOs

Initial indicatorsPatentsNumber of Spin-offNumber of licenses and royaltiesCollaborative research – number of contracts and income

Indicators after 2010Resources from the institution aimed at KTStable positions fully dedicated to KTBudget for training KT managersNumber of researchers involved in KT

~ 50% not permanent staff Junior positions

Increasing the demand

The role of KT Managers

Report on Research and KT survey 2011 – Spanish

UniversitiesRed OTRI Universidades -

CRUE

< 10% staff – marketing and

promotion

Increasing the demand

Commitment 21The Commission … will work with stakeholder to develop a set of model consortium agreements with options ranging from traditional approaches to protect IP through to more open ones

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Contract models may help Creating a reliable market Shortening negotiations Administrative management Support to develop KT capacities and skills

Contract models may hinder Case by case approach

Appropriate KT focus Building long-term trust

Contract models

Commitment 22By the end of 2011 … the Commission will make proposals to develop a European knowledge market for patents and licensing. This should build on Member State experience in trading platforms that match supply and demand, market places to enable financial investments in intangible assets, and other ideas for breathing new life into neglected intellectual property, such as patent pools and innovation brokering

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The EC should not establish or support the IPR Financial Market before the underlying IPR Asset Market in Europe has not been substantially improved and the

rules of this underlying market are clear to the actors

Knowledge market

Creating a financial market for IPR (Dec. 2011)Final report for

EU Tender No 3/PP/ENT/CIP/10/A/NO2S003Universität St.Gallen – Fraunhofer MOEZ