Translation
University of Tokyo Intellectual Property Policy
February 17, 2004
Revised September 30, 2004
1.

Objectives
The University of Tokyo has acknowledged the roles entrusted to it by the people ofJapan, as “university to the world”, to contribute to Japanese society and to serve
the “global public interest”.

In order to fulfill these roles, the University haspursued universal human truths that transcend differences of nationality, ethnicity,and language, and has worked towards achieving world peace, human welfare, theharmonious coexistence of humanity with nature, the creation of safe
environments, balanced, sustainable development in each region of the world, theadvancement of science and technology, and the critical preservation and creationof culture, through its educational and research activities.
However, at the start of the 21st century, changes in society present new
challenges for the University..

In welcoming the advent of a society in whichknowledge holds decisive meaning in every field, collaborations with external
knowledge-creating entities gain a greater significance to 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, while
maintaining its autonomy and independence.

In other words, the University must

intensify its efforts to promote bilateral interactions with society, by actively seeking
to return the benefits of its research to the community and at the same timeseeking to initiate and conduct research that address society’s needs.

Giventhese realities, being aware of the responsibilities to protect intellectual property
generated as a result of its research and to ensure their value to society, andhaving the clear need for systems to fulfill these responsibilities, the University ofTokyo hereby makes an open declaration to establish policies on handling its
intellectual property.
2.

Basic concepts
The greatest mission of a university is to conduct education and research forsucceeding generations.

At the same time, there is a responsibility to return to1

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society, without delay, the benefits of any results generated by this education andresearch.

These reciprocal interactions with society are of the same importanceas education and research.
To facilitate such mutual interactions with society, it is essential to establish andsmoothly implement mechanisms to protect, manage, and utilize intellectualproperty, thereby fostering lively research and allowing the benefits to be returnedto the public.

This Policy is established to protect and promote the effective useof intellectual property relating to knowledge created at the University of Tokyo.
All the faculty members of the University of Tokyo and those holding equivalent
positions are responsible for reporting in accordance with this Policy, and for all
matters related to this Policy.
3.

Ownership and transfer of intellectual property
When handling intellectual property created at the University, it is important toconsider diverse matters such as contributing to the international public in thecontext of increasing globalization, and strengthening Japanese international
competitiveness as well as that of the University of Tokyo itself.

Giving due

consideration to these diverse goals, members of the University are obligated topursue the most effective means of applying intellectual property derived from theirwork to the greatest possible public benefit.
When an intellectually created result is considered worthy of protection as
intellectual property, it is appropriate to promote its dissemination, use it for publicbenefit, and establish systems that allow revenue from its application to beinvested in new research and development.
Both faculty members and the institution itself have an obligation to return to thepublic the benefits of intellectual property derived from publicly-funded work at theUniversity of Tokyo.

In principle, the University believes that ensuring the mostappropriate means of management and implementation of such intellectual
property requires ownership by the University.
Based on this framework, the University of Tokyo will establish a system for themanagement and use of intellectual property derived from its intramural activities
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and for the resolution of disputes involving such intellectual property.

This system

will be established to protect the rights and reputations of the members who create
intellectual property, eliminate obstacles against education and research such as
the administration of rights and clerical implementation, and contribute to society
through the use of intellectual property, resulting in the appropriate return oftechnology transfer revenue and thereby providing incentive to the creators ofintellectual property and thus further enabling the promotion of research efforts as
new sources of social benefit.
4.

Handling of intellectual property(1)Intellectual property subject to institutional management and useIntellectual property can be roughly divided into two groups: intellectuallycreated products, and marks for trade.

The basic policy described herein

applies to intellectual products derived from research conducted by
University faculty members, while marks for trade are outside its scope.
Intellectual property rights include patent rights, utility model rights, design
rights, copyright, circuit layout exploitation rights, plant breeders’ rights (asset forth in the Seedling Law), as well as rights involving know-how andmaterials developed by research activities.

The University of Tokyo musthave clear policies regarding these intellectual property rights.

However,as the approaches to handling these different types of intellectual property
rights vary, it would be difficult to use a single method.

For this reason, theUniversity will establish means of managing and using intellectual property
specific to each individual category.
(2)

Basic policies regarding the institutional management and use of patent andsimilar rights
The basic policies of the University of Tokyo for handling patent rights andutility model rights are set forth in the following.

Design rights and plant

breeders’ rights will be handled similarly, with details to be separatelydecided.
i)

Submitting work-related inventions
Inventions and utility models (collectively, “Inventions”) derived fromresearch conducted using public or university funds, or those
conducted at the University facilities, are considered potential objects
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of ownership by the University of Tokyo, and are viewed by theUniversity of Tokyo as work-related inventions.
When any person subject to the policies in this document makes anInvention, that person must promptly report to the respectivedepartment.

The Intellectual Property Office in each department will

make timely judgments regarding whether a reported Invention
qualifies as a work-related invention.

A submission adjudged by a

departmental Intellectual Property Office to be a work-related invention
will be promptly forwarded to the Office of University Corporate
Relations, the Office of Intellectual Property, University of Tokyo.
ii)

Judgments regarding institutional ownership
The Office of University Corporate Relations, the Office of Intellectual
Property, University of Tokyo will make timely decisions regardingwhether to assign to the University ownership of work-related
inventions forwarded from departmental Intellectual Property Offices.
The above decisions depend upon commercial utility, novelty,
non-obviousness,

publicbenefit,

revenuepotential,

costs

forregistration and the other aspects of intellectual property rights.

Toensure objectivity, surveys and other similar work will be outsourced,
and a system will be developed to confirm opinions used in thedecision-making process.

However, final decisions regarding

University ownership will be made by the Office of University
Corporate Relations, the Office of Intellectual Property, University ofTokyo.
The inventor is responsible for handling all cases adjudged not to be
assigned to the University.

In such cases, if the inventor decides topursue the acquisition of intellectual property rights and use theInvention privately, a report of such activities must be submitted to theOffice of University Corporate Relations, the Office of Intellectual
Property, University of Tokyo.
iii) Ownership, management, and use of joint research results
It is expected that a considerable amount of intellectual property at the4T0529T012

University will relate to Inventions resulting from joint research withprivate corporations and other entities.

In such cases, an appropriate

joint research agreement should be signed, and filings for intellectual
property rights should be made jointly.

Such cases require a flexible

managing system to aid in determining the shares of intellectual
property rights ownership in accordance with the degrees ofcontribution by respective joint researchers, the appropriate sharing offiling costs considering the manner of use, and other related matters.
Furthermore, flexible means of assigning shares of ownership areneeded to appropriately divide roles among joint applicants ofintellectual property rights and to effectively use Inventions.
Negotiations and binding contracts are indispensable to this process.
The University of Tokyo will establish a flexible system to accommodate
such cases and their working processes, including outsourcing.

Inorder to execute an appropriate joint research agreement, the Universityof Tokyo will confirm the priority of exploitation rights by the joint
researchers upon such execution, and will execute a joint applicationagreement and license agreement when the benefits of the joint
research are generated.

At the same time, the University will makeefforts to inform private joint researchers that the University will not usethe results on its own and that it has the mission to return the benefits tothe community without delay, and will make efforts to execute a proper
joint application and license agreement to accommodate this mission.
iv)

Promoting the use of University-owned Inventions
The University will make active efforts with joint applicants andexternal Technology Licensing Organizations (TLOs) to broadly utilize
its intellectual property.

The manner of using intellectual property

held by the University is based on due consideration of the support of
the University by national public funds and the correspondingobligation of accountability for its activities.

Thus, costs for managing

and using University-owned Inventions, such as those relating to theacquisition of intellectual property rights, transfer of rights, andresolution of disputes, should ultimately be recovered from technology
transfer revenues.

For this purpose, continuous, appropriate
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evaluation of University-owned Inventions will be required.
Furthermore, as a means of returning intellectually created results tothe community, the University of Tokyo will positively utilize newenterprises founded by Inventions.

In order to support such newenterprises, the University will cooperate with technology transferorganizations.
v)

Incentives for inventors
Revenue from the technology transfer of intellectual property from
University-owned Inventions will be divided among individual inventors,
laboratories, departments, and the University, based on an appropriate
fixed ratio after deducting costs for the acquisition or transfer ofintellectual property rights.

Costs for the resolution of disputes will behandled separately.
vi)

Academic use of University-owned Inventions
The University will properly handle the purely academic use ofInventions it owns, including granting permission to use suchInventions free of charge, giving due consideration to the main
objective of University knowledge-creation activities, which is topromote continuous advances in research and development.

5.

Basic policy for intellectual property rights other than patent rights
With regard to intellectual property rights other than patent rights, such as
copyright, circuit layout exploitation rights, rights relating to know-how, and rights
relating to materials developed during research, those benefits will be returned tothe community by separate rules in details which provide the lines between thosemanaged and used by the University and those managed and used by theindividual faculty member, giving due consideration to the specific characteristicsof the respective intellectual property rights.

6.

Enforcement of the management and exploitation of intellectual property rights
The Office of University Corporate Relations, the Office of Intellectual Property,
University of Tokyo will manage and use intellectual property rights in cooperation
with departmental intellectual property offices, external TLOs, and consultants on
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promoting industry-academic collaborations.

In the course of these activities, theUniversity will consult with inventors and keep them apprised as appropriate,establish rules for procedures to be followed by inventors, and make efforts toensure the speed and efficiency of all processes involved.

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