[Translation]
University of Tokyo Policy on Promoting International Corporate Relations
September 6th, 2007
1.

PurposeThe University of Tokyo acknowledges that it has been entrusted by the people of Japan to be auniversity that strives to be a world leader in academics and stand at the forefront of our times,
contributing to Japanese society and serving the “global public interest”. In order to fulfill these roles,
the University has pursued universal human truths that transcend differences of nationality, ethnicity,and language, and has worked towards achieving world peace, human welfare, the harmonious
coexistence of humanity with nature, the creation of safe environments, balanced, sustainable
development in each region of the world, the advancement of science and technology, and the criticalpreservation and creation of culture, through its educational and research activities.
At the start of the 21st century, however, and particularly since the corporatization of all of Japan’snational universities in 2004, great changes in society have presented new challenges for theUniversity. In welcoming the advent of a society in which knowledge holds decisive meaning in every
field, collaborating on a global scale with external knowledge-creating entities has even moresignificance to the development of the University’s education and research. From this perspective,
the University is held increasingly accountable to open itself to the world and meet society’s demands,
and while it pays particular attention to restrictions imposed under the laws of Japan and othercountries and under international treaties and the like and to other relevant factors such as concerns
surrounding the leakage of technology overseas, the University’s fundamental aim is to return theresults of its research as much as possible to the international community, so it must continue to pushahead on a global scale to promote the University of Tokyo’s bilateral interactions with industry andsociety.
Given these realities, and being aware of the need to establish international systems for promoting
such collaborations between academy and industry, the University of Tokyo has drawn on the Charterof the University of Tokyo (enacted March 2003), the Final Report of the Working Group on Promoting
Corporate Relations (agreement reached in March 2003) of the Committee for Promoting Relations
with Society, and the University of Tokyo Intellectual Property Policy (enacted February 2004; amendedSeptember 2004) to establish this University of Tokyo Policy on Promoting International Corporate
Relations. This Policy will be made available to those inside and outside the University.
2.

Basic Requirements for Promoting International Corporate Relations

Several basic requirements must be met in order to successfully promote international corporate
relations. The University of Tokyo will make satisfying those requirements its number one priority.
Critical to successfully organizing international corporate relations is the creation of an international
network of liaisons, which will also entail finding better ways of disseminating information to the world.
It is also essential to be aware of how urgent it is to create clear policies for handling university
intellectual property from an international perspective of filing for patents overseas and the like, toestablish and strengthen international legal functions that are increasingly required in association withsuch matters, and of course to secure and educate personnel capable of carrying out the practical sideof promoting international corporate research.
At the University of Tokyo, an institution with the potential for carrying out outstanding research acrossa diverse range of disciplines, “promoting international corporate relations” means effectively andefficiently disseminating to the world, even more so than before, information on the results ofoutstanding research. It is also important that the University of Tokyo knows, through surveys andanalyses of trends in research and development carried out by overseas companies and research1[Translation]
institutions (“overseas entities”), what the world is expecting of it. In other words, promoting themutual exchange of information between the University of Tokyo and overseas entities and theinternational exchange of people, which forms the basis for effecting such exchanges of information,
are vital to promoting international collaborative research.
At the same time, the University of Tokyo must carefully select, from among a diverse range of research
fields, the research topics in and for which it should engage and promote international corporate
relations, from the perspective of promoting international academic research and developing industry.
With this basic awareness, the University of Tokyo intends to promote international corporate relations,
keeping in mind the following points:(1)

The University of Tokyo will produce outstanding research results that it will be able to use to takevarious initiatives, and it will disseminate information to the world proactively, in research fields ofglobal repute.

(2)

The aim is not merely to expand international joint research and internationally commissioned
research, but to promote corporate relations by carefully selecting, from the perspective ofconsidering what genuinely beneficial international relations are, the areas of research to which
the University of Tokyo should truly apply itself and the most appropriate overseas entities withwhich to be partners.

(3)

In order to respond to requests from overseas, the University of Tokyo will establish a systemthrough which it can handle international collaborative research and internationally entrustedresearch not merely through many individuals acting separately as has been the conventional
approach, but through the entire university acting as an organized whole.

(4)

Drawing heavily from the business environment in which Japanese national universities operate,
the University of Tokyo will examine and establish optimum policies for managing the promotionof research and building a research support system, the lack of which has been one of thebiggest reasons investment into research is increasingly moving away from Japanese companies
to overseas research institutes.

(5)

While establishing a system to promote activities for international corporate relations, theUniversity of Tokyo will also secure and educate the highest caliber of personnel able to carry out
those activities.

3.

Establishing an International Network of Liaisons and Improving the Dissemination of Information

In line with the current trend toward internationalization, the demands are high for the University ofTokyo to prove the effectiveness of the system designed for the purpose of promoting corporate
relations in such areas as collaborative research and entrusted research in Japan. The University ofTokyo will therefore establish a new framework for international corporate relations, including aframework for handling intellectual property. At the same time, in order to produce internationallycompetitive results, the University of Tokyo will establish a system for managing the promotion ofresearch and supporting research.
In working toward promoting international corporate relations, the University of Tokyo will fully utilize its
network of overseas bases. Specifically, the university’s Division of University Corporate Relations
and Division of University International Relations will work closely together, utilizing the university’s
overseas bases to strengthen the university’s relations with overseas research institutions, making fulluse of the university's international collaborative research and international entrusted research projects,and liaising with international companies, particularly overseas entities. The two divisions will engage

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themselves even more proactively in exchanging personnel with overseas entities. Through thecollective effect of these efforts, the University of Tokyo will make full use of, and move from strength tostrength with, its public relations with overseas entities.

4.

Promoting Overseas Applications for Patents and Full Utilization of Patents

The promotion of international corporate relations makes it ever more important to consider applying foroverseas patents, reflecting the globalization in recent times of science and technology as well as
industry and corporate activities.
From the perspective of using overseas patent applications as a method of returning to society theresearch results it has produced as a research institution supported by public funds, as well as,
domestic ones, the University of Tokyo believes it is necessary to appropriately protect and utilize
inventions that might become fundamental patents that can contribute to future technologicalrevolutions, global standardization, and the like. The University of Tokyo will also consider to makethese research results to practical use, in accordance with the characteristics of the technical field towhich they correspond, by widely applying for patents and licensing technologies overseas forinventions the value of which cannot be fully realized merely by being put to practical use in Japan andfor inventions whose practical applications require focusing on not just the Japanese market but also
the global market.
Specifically, the University of Tokyo will make it its basic policy such that when it produces research
results out of its fundamental and basic research activities, one of the missions inherent in alluniversities, and those results represent a beacon with which it can lead the way on the global stage, itwill strategically apply for patents, land utilize patents in countries that noticeably or potentially have theneed, in the interests of their industry or people, for those results, on the premise not just that theinventions have potential in the relatively short term for being applied practically and utilized but alsothat the inventions will enable the University of Tokyo to give back the university’s knowledge to a broad
section of society over the long term.
The University of Tokyo will efficiently manage and carry out the various procedures required after
patents have been applied for overseas by reviewing when appropriate whether it is necessary tomaintain the rights, considering in doing so the differences in patent laws and practices in each country
as well as, among other factors, the trends in the characteristics of the technologies, and in thetechnologies themselves, of the relevant technical fields, market trends in those fields, and theenvironment surrounding the licensing of technologies through TLO (technology licensingorganizations).
5.

Improving International Legal Practices

The opportunities for university researchers to engage in international research will continue toincrease, and as it does so too will the opportunities to expand university and corporate relations,
including through the overseas utilization of intellectual properties. To this end it is essential that theUniversity of Tokyo creates relevant English materials, such as English collaborative research
agreements, that are commensurate to the myriad research schemes and English guidelines to govern
procedures for entering into research agreements with overseas entities. It will also create an internalsystem to smoothly process such administrative procedures as negotiating with overseas entities andhandling payments and taxes.
Furthermore, as activities connected with international corporate relations become more common,
there is the risk that universities might get caught up in related disputes. In order to provide for suchsituations, the University of Tokyo will prepare countermeasures to prevent disputes. It will strengthen3

[Translation]
its ability to implement countermeasures for preventing international disputes related to university
corporate relations as part of the legal practice of its Division of University Corporate Relations. Theuniversity will pay close attention to management so as to avoid the risks of international disputes, andso that it can prevent future disputes, the university will also review the various English agreements andthe like from an international law perspective.
In particular, the University of Tokyo will continually carry out activities to educate and inform its
researchers on export management regulations so that they can comply with the multitude of laws,
ordinances, and treaties, etc., associated with university corporate relations, at the same time working
toward enhancing its legal support system for university research in order for that research to beconducted smoothly.
To strengthen its international legal functions, the University of Tokyo will retain the services of experts,
such as lawyers and patent attorneys, including ones overseas, when negotiating and preparing
contracts, and it will establish an international network for it to efficiently obtain support from theseexternal experts.
6.

Securing, Educating, and Organizing Personnel for Promoting International Corporate Relations

One of the unspoken conditions to promoting international corporate relations is that it is necessary toestablish the optimum organizational structure and to secure and educate highly specialized personnel
able to efficiently execute the required businesses.
The highly specialized personnel that are required in this sense, who will be the ones implementing theground work for international corporate relations, will, specifically speaking, be people who can act andrespond appropriately with respect to performing contractual duties associated with taking on
international collaborative research or international entrusted research and with respect to negotiatinginternational intellectual-property legal matters, as well as with respect to liaison activities,
management of promoting research, and the various duties associated with research support.
The University of Tokyo believes that to secure these sorts of personnel for promoting international
corporate relations, it is essential that it actively seek out and employ expert personnel, including
external personnel, who are specialized in handling international matters. At the same time, however,
if it is to seriously consider the sustainability and continuity of a forward-looking personnel
organizational structure, then it must, in the process of strengthening its structure, educate and train its
internal personnel who will also participate in promoting international corporate relations.
As for the qualifications that these expert personnel who will be promoting international corporate
relations at the university will need, the two key qualities are an extremely high specialist level ofknowledge and an understanding of the university’s mission for society, which is different to any
corporate goal. On top of a good balance of these attributes, they will be required to have the ability tomake accurate decisions appropriate to the situation at hand. The University of Tokyo will work hardto promote international corporate relations not just from the perspective of securing and educating
personnel that the university will employ, but also from the long-term perspective of firmly establishing a
network of external specialists highly skilled in the relevant fields.

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