1The University of TokyoIntellectual Property Report 2023--- Digest Version (English) ---Division of University Corporate Relations(DUCR)The University of Tokyo

Picture on the front cover of the original version (Japanese) :“The University of Tokyo Entrepreneur Plaza”
The Entrepreneur Plaza, inaugurated at the Hongo Campus in 2007, has
29 rooms, each measuring approximately 58m² in size. Twenty rooms
located on the 4th - 7th floors can be used as a wet laboratory capable ofconducting P2 level biotechnology experiments.

2Role of Intellectual Property Rights in UTokyo✓ Acquisition of intellectual property rights (IPRs) realizes an environment where private companies canconveniently invest in social implementation of research results.
✓ IPRs are crucial for fulfilling the university’s mission of social implementation of research results.

IPR management in UTokyo✓ The UTokyo assumes responsibility for the management and utilization of research results obtained using theUTokyo and public resources.
✓ Taking the opportunity for the incorporation of national universities and so on, the UTokyo established thecurrent IPR management system that enables it to inherit IPRs originating from research activities.
✓ The UTokyo manages and utilizes IPRs in cooperation with TODAI TLO, Ltd.

【Topic】 Relation between UTokyo Compass and IPRs
The UTokyo Compass is a statement of the guiding
principles of the university. It was formulated in 2021 with20 goals set from the three perspectives of People, Place,and Knowledge.
IPRs, positioned as key management resources for thesegoals, are related to various initiatives under eachperspective.
The diagram on the right illustrates the expected roles andfunctions of IP in relation to The University of Tokyo Future
Society Creation Model. IPR activities form a part of thiscycle of developing autonomous management capabilities
based on the development of financial resources.
The UTokyo will endeavor to create an ecosystem thatsupports sustainable research activities based on IPRs.

Creation of Trustthrough Social IP
implementation
Practice of IP-IR

Inventive activities
Social implementation ofresearch results through IPRs

Securing placethrough IPRs

Production ofIPR experts
Acquisition of IPRs

Income through IPRs

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Invention Reports

Solo-invention Report

Solo-invention Success ratio

Joint-Invention Report

Joint-invention Success ratio✓ The UTokyo inherits the right to obtain patents basedon the research activities conducted by faculty member.
✓ Approximately 500-600 invention reports submitted peryear by members during the last 10 years.
✓ 30-40% of the reports pertain to independent (UTokyo
solely-owned) inventions and 60-70% are joint
inventions, mainly with private companies.
✓ The succession ratio of inventions has been graduallyincreasing (89.3% for 2022).
✓ The graduate school of engineering accounted for thelargest proportion (approximately 30%) of reports
submitted during the last 10 years.

Total Success ratio【Topic】 Statistics of invention reports with female inventors
The UTokyo adopted “the University of Tokyo Statement
on Diversity & Inclusion (D&I)” in 2022. The university has
been working for the active participation of female faculty
and the number of female professors and associates has
increased by more than 100 in the last 10 years. However,the percentage of invention reports involving female
inventors remains low, at approximately 15%. In 2022, theuniversity launched the project titled, “UTokyo Gender
Equity Initiative #WeChange,” an initiative to develop
female leaders by providing active support for female
researchers. The UTokyo will continue to work for theactive participation of female researchers in the IPR system.

Invention report with female inventor
Invention report without female inventor

Ratio of Invention report with female inventor

4Patent Applications

Foreign Joint application

Domestic Joint application

Foreign Solo application

Domestic Solo application✓ Domestic applications (applications to Japan) are on aslight increase. Especially, joint applications in FY2022
increased by approximately 100 compared to the previousyear.
✓ In FY 2022, domestic and foreign applications wereapproximately 600 each.
✓ Regarding technological fields of patent applications, life
sciences accounted for the largest share of individual
applications (35%). Regarding joint applications,manufacturing technology had the largest share (34%),
followed by life sciences (24%).

【Topic】 JP-US comparison regarding joint applications with companies
The comparison of patent publications of theUTokyo and major US universities shows thatthe proportion of joint applications withprivate companies in the US is significantlylower. There possible reasons include:• Sponsored research is quite common in theUS with funding from private companies
compared to the joint research approach.
• Many universities do not accept joint
research offers that do not meet therequirements of Fundamental Researchunder the US export control regulations.

Solo application

PCTUTokyo
JPPCT
Stanford
USPCT
MITUS
PCT
HarvardUS

Joint application with academia

Joint application with company

5Registered Patent✓ Total number of patents held last year reached
4,924.
✓ Joint patents have steadily increased over recentyears.
✓ Individual patents are regularly assessed and someof them are abandoned owing to maintenancecosts. Only less than 3% of the registered patents
are kept without licensing for more than 11 years.
✓ Regarding joint patents with private companies, theco-owner bears the costs of the patent. Based on
their concerns or requests, a certain number ofpatents is maintained for an extended durationeven without license or exercise of patent.

Newly Licensed Patents
Existing Licensed Patents
Transferred Patents

Domestic Solo patent

Domestic Joint patentForeign Solo patentForeign Joint patent

License of Patents✓ The number of licensed patents is steadily
increasing year by year, reaching 4,487 with382 newly licensed patents in FY2022.
✓ 32% of the rights to be licensed are single
patents and 68% are shared patents. 20% ofshared patents are licensed to third parties.
✓ TODAI TLO provides consistent support froman invention consultation stage before
invention reports to a licensing stage. This
practice realizes many patent licenses.

6License of independently owned patents✓ 57% of individual patent licensees are startups and 43% are existing companies.
✓ Regarding the technical fields of patents licensed to startups, 52% of all licenses
are from the life sciences field. As for the technical fields of patent to existing
companies, life sciences accounted for 37%, with a higher proportion ofnanotechnology/materials and manufacturing technology than for startups.

To Companies
other than SUs
43%

To Start Ups
57%

License to Start Ups

License to Companies
other than SUs■ Life Science■ Manufacturing Tech.

■ Nano-Tech. / Material■IT■ Energy■ Others【Case】
Many of Japan’s concrete structures are reaching the stage of renewal. It is warned that substantial waste concrete
will be generated, exceeding 40 million tons per year. This constitutes one of the major social issues in Japan.
Research results of Professor Takafumi Noguchi haveprovided one solution for this issue. Spraying carbonatedbubble water onto hardened cement revealed that thecement hardened because CO2 reacted with the calcium
hydroxide in cement. Koizumi Seima Co., Ltd. became
interested in the research results, and in 2021, concluded
an exclusive license agreement for the patent held by theUTokyo. Koizumi Seima is planning to launch a device thatsprays carbonated bubble water on cement.

7Startups utilizing UTokyo IPRs
✓ Approximately 40% of patents licensing at the UTokyo is forstartups.
✓ TODAI TLO, UTEC, UTokyo IPC, and DUCR of UTokyo arecollaborating to provide seamless support to startups.
✓ UTokyo’s mid-term objectives aim to create 650 UTokyorelated startups and have 160 of these utilize UTokyo’s IPRs
by 2027.
✓ The number of startups utilizing UTokyo’s IPRs reached 148
by the end of FY2022.
✓ Total market capitalization at the time of listing was tens ofbillions yen, and that of one company exceeded 100 billion
yen. Utilization of UTokyo’s IPRs by startups has beencreating significant economic impact.

Jointly owned byAcademia /Jointly owned by
Jointly owned by Licensed to SUs
Companies
other than3%
SUs / Licensed
SUs
Licensed
to SUsto Co-owner SUs
4%
16%
Licensed
to SUs18%
Jointly owned byCompanies other
Jointly than SUs / Licensed
to Co-owners
owned
38%
Patents
68%

Solelyowned
Patents
32%
Licensed toCompanies otherthan SUs
14%
Jointly owned /Licensed to 3rd-PartiyCompanies other than SUs
9%

UTokyo SUs using UTokyo’s IPRs
Utokyo SUs not using UTokyo’s IPRs

Schematic Diagram of UTokyo’s Support for Startups

Total:526
Mid-term Goal:
650 SUs by FY2027

Mid-term Goal:
160 SUs utilizing
UTokyo’s IPRs

148

8Cases: Startups utilizing IPRs of UTokyo
ThinkCyte K.K. was established in 2016 to socially
implement a new technology called Ghost Cytometry using
the research results of Associate Professor Sadao Ota.
Using Ghost Cytometry, ThinkCyte performs label-freecharacterization and isolation of cells at high throughput
employing machine-predicted “in-silico” labels.
This technology is highly compatible with automatedmanufacturing processes. As label-free cellcharacterization eliminates a sampling step, it facilitates
inline measurements and enrichment in the cellmanufacturing process.
ThinkCyte has adopted anaggressive patent strategy toensure its technologicalsuperiority in major countries
including Japan. It has a patentportfolio of over 30 patentapplication families in theworld. Its first commercial
machine launched in 2023 hasbeen rolled out overseas withstrong patent protection.

Gaianixx Co., Ltd. will contribute to dramatic
innovations in the semiconductor industry by sociallyimplementing new crystal growth developed by Dr.
Takeshi Kijima of the Tabata Laboratory, Graduate
School of Engineering. The negative effect of strain on
semiconductor substrates has been a major obstacle in
the advancement of semiconductors. Dr. Kijima
invented a solution to the obstacle using the special
crystal growth technology. Gaianixx was founded withhands-on support of the UTEC as well as other support
programs of the UTokyo. Gaianixx has been actively
filing patent applications to build robust barriers toprotect their technology as well as their business.
Gaianixx proactivelysecures trademarks.
In addition to thecompany name, it
secures productnames, etc. forconcrete brandprotection worldwide
at early stage.

9(Case)Succession and Utilization ofCopyrights

Newly Licensed Copyrights
Existing Licensed Copyrights
Transferred Copyrights
Copyrights inherited by UTokyo✓ Under UTokyo’s IP regulations, reports tobureau have to be submitted only when it
becomes necessary to license them for profit
in the case of software and database works.
✓ In FY2022, 20 works, such as software works,
were reported and those copyrights wereinherited by the UTokyo.
✓ In FY2022, newly licensed copyrights include
18 cases. The number of copyright license
contracts was 146 at the end of FY2022.

【Case】HEMILLIONS Corp. was found under the partnership between UTokyoand SoftBank Corp. The aim of HEMILLIONS is to standardize individuals’
medical records among hospitals and, ultimately, make personal healthrecords (PHR) available for patients. Together with Prof. Kazuhiko Oheand his team, HEMILLIONS has developed a software service called“FRUCtoS.” FRUCtoS uses the HL7 FHIR server to expand the network
between hospitals, ensuring the secure transmission of patient data.
HEMILLIONS began as an initiative of the Beyond AI Research Promotion
Organization, an industry-academia collaboration project between
UTokyo and Softbank. This marks the first instance where UTokyo has
directly held stocks in exchange for its copyright and know-how.

(Million Yen)

Direct Income through IPRs

MTA
Upfront and others
Running Royalty
Milestone
Stock Option✓ Direct income from owning IPRs of FY2022 is 804
million yen.
✓ Recent income has exceeded that in the early2010s, despite annual fluctuations in theamount due to heteronomous factors.
✓ The total income from “Upfront and others” and“MTA” has remained stable during recent years
despite the COVID-19 pandemic.

Direct Cost of Acquisition/Maintenance of IPRs
✓ Patent acquisition involves agent fee for patent attorney, application fee to the Japan Patent Office, etc.
Patent maintenance involves an annual fee.
✓ The UTokyo bears the cost for solo-applications as well as joint applications with academia. Recently, total
costs have remained over 200 million yen.
Direct costs for domestic patent/applications✓ In the case of patent acquisition and(Million Yen)
Direct costs related to international/foreign patent/applications
maintenance for a joint invention with a
private company, the cost is generally borneby the private company.
✓ Obtaining a patent in a foreign country costs
more than obtaining one in Japan because ofadditional translation and agent fees.
✓ Securing resources or budget to maintain a
global patent portfolio is a significant
challenge despite increasing foreign patents.

1011For inquiries, please contact: info@ducr.u-tokyo.ac.jp