Knowledge Transferfrom University to Industryin Japan
BRIDGING BORDERS FOR TECHNOLOGY TRANSFER IN GERMANY AND
JAPAN TAKING INNOVATION ABROAD

December 5th, 2023
Koichi Sumikura
National Graduate Institute for Policy Studies

Koichi Sumikura, Professor at National
Graduate Institute for Policy Studies (GRIPS).
• In March 1998 he got a Ph.D. in engineering from the University ofTokyo, for his study on bio-engineering.
During April 1998 and September 2001, he had been working at
Research Center for Advanced Science and Technology, the University ofTokyo.
In October 2001 he got a position of Associate Professor at GRIPS.
He has been working as Professor at GRIPS since April 2016.
During June 2012 and May 2015, he had also been working as Directorof Research, 2nd Theory-Oriented Research Group, National Institute ofScience and Technology Policy (NISTEP).
He has been a board member of the Japan Society for Research Policy
and Innovation Management since 2001.
He is also teaching at the University of Tokyo, Waseda University, Tokyo
University of Agriculture and Technology, and Yokohama City University.
His main fields of research are, intellectual property strategy; policy for
research and innovation; contribution of academic knowledge toinnovation; life sciences and society.

GRIPS is the core institute of MEXT’s SciREX (Science for RE-designing Science, Technologyand Innovation Policy) Program. https://scirex.grips.ac.jp/en/

The Basic Plan for Science,Technology and Innovation in Japan• 1995: Basic Act on Science and Technology• 1996-2001: The 1st Basic Plan for Science and Technology• 2021: Basic Act on Science, Technology and Innovation• 2021-2026: The 6th Basic Plan for Science, Technologyand Innovation>> What is the Society 5.0 we are aiming at?
- the sustainable and resilient society tosecure people’s safety and security.
- the society each person can realize “wellbeing.”>> Policy for Society 5.0 to realize wellbeing of each person.
- construction of innovation eco-system- creation of smart city
- improving research capacity, by open
science and data-driven researchBasic Act on Science, Technologyand Innovation• Article 1• The objective of this law is to achieve a higher standard of science andtechnology (hereinafter referred to as "S&T") and promotion of
implementing innovation, to contribute to the development of theeconomy and society in Japan and to the improvement of the welfare of
the nation, as well as to contribute to the progress of S&T in the world
and the sustainable development of human society, through prescribing
the basic policy requirements for the promotion of S&T andimplementation of innovation and comprehensively and systematicallypromoting policies for the progress of S&T and implementation ofinnovation.

Intellectual Property Basic Act (Act No. 122 of 2002)• Article 13 (Promotion of transfer of Research and Development results,etc.)• In light of the fact that Research and Development results achieved byuniversities, etc. are useful for the development of new business fields
and the improvement of industrial technology, national government
shall take necessary measures to encourage universities, etc. to properlymanage their Research and Development results and smoothly transfer
the results to business operators, such as improving systems inuniversities, etc. to utilize human resources that have expert knowledge
on intellectual property, improving such proceedings pertaining toregistration for establishment on intellectual property, carrying out
research and study market, etc., and providing market information.

The Strategic Program for the Creation, Protection andExploitation of Intellectual Property (July 2003)• 1. Creation• 2. Protection• 3. Exploitation• 4. The Dramatic Expansion of Content Business• 5. Developing Human Resources and Improving PublicAwareness
http://www.kantei.go.jp/foreign/policy/titeki/kettei/040527_e.html
Since 2004, “Intellectual Property Strategic Program” has been released annually.

Funding
Evaluation
Regulation

S&T Policy

Funding
Tax Exemption
Procurement
Regulation

Research(Academia)

Academic Impact
Patenting orPublic domain

Absorption byCorporations
Follow-on Investment
on Corporate R&D
Innovation(Corporation)
Patentingor Secrecy

Social and/or
Economic Impact

Environment over industry-university cooperation in Japan• 1998- University technology Transfer Promotion Act

Subsidy or debt underwriting for approved TLO• 1999-Special Measures Law on Industrial Energy Regeneration
Articles 32 and 33, discount of patent fee and charge for approved TLO• 2000-Removal of ban on national university teacher serving as TLO officer• 2000-Law on Reinforcement of Industrial Technical Capacity
Discount of patent fee and charge for university teacher or university
Deregulation on national university professors serving as private company officer
Free use of national property by TLO• 2000-Promotion of organizational management and exploitation of patents innational universities (notification)

National patent is now assignable to authorized TLO.
• 2004-Corporatization of national university• There are 32 approved TLOs (as of April 2023).

University Intellectual Property Headquarters
or Technology Licensing Organizations (TLOs)
take a role of patent filing and marketing and return license incomesto inventors and universities.
Return incomes
University

License income
UIPH
orTLO

Researchers

CompanyMarketing
Negotiation
Licensing
Evaluation of Invention
and Patent Application

Invention
reportFunction of “Licensing Associates”
Licensing terms have to be determined in the agreement

License agreement

Licensor• Exclusive or nonexclusive?
• License fee(initial payment,
running royalty)• Due diligence clause• Milestone clause• Right of sub-license• Scope of use• Geographical scope• Period, etc.

Licensee(1) Businessproposal by a license
associate of TLO

Arrow shows a flow ofknowledge/ intellectual
property.

(2) Spin-off startups
from university
Basicresearch(3) Joint research &University
development
Independentadministrative agent (consortium, industryNational laboratory university joint research)

Applied research/development
Industry

Gap (Valley of Death) between basic
research and applied research/development in national innovation system.

SMRITI MALLAPATY “Japan’s start-up
gulf,” NATURE INDEX 20 MARCH 2019
• The accepted wisdom is that scientists in Japan are either
respected or rich; not both. Then there’s Hiroaki Suga.
• Suga, a chemist, heads a laboratory at The University ofTokyo (UTokyo) and is the co-founder of PeptiDream, a
US$5 billion biotech company. His experience is seen as
proof that professors in Japan can be successful in bothacademia and industry. “People have realized that you cankeep doing good science while also having a large impact onsociety,” he says.
• PeptiDream is often referred to as the type of sciencedriven innovation that the Japanese government wants
more of: fundamental research is translated into profitableproducts with tangible societal benefits.
https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-019-00833-3

SMRITI MALLAPATY “Japan’s start-upgulf,” NATURE INDEX 20 MARCH 2019
• Takafumi Yamamoto, president of Todai TLO, atechnology licensing office owned by UTokyo, attributes
the sluggish growth to Japan’s risk-averse culture. “Weface a lack of entrepreneurship,” he says. But, herecognizes the sector’s significant progress given its latestart.
• When Yamamoto started in the tech transfer businessin 1996, most faculty had no interest in filing patents,
he says. Today, professors routinely prepare PowerPoint
presentations about how their technology could
contribute to society. The mindset of industry is alsochanging, says Yamamoto, towards open innovation
and university collaboration.
https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-019-00833-3

SMRITI MALLAPATY “Japan’s start-up
gulf,” NATURE INDEX 20 MARCH 2019
• In 2016, according to UNITT, only 26.5% of Japan’s
research institutions and TLOs launched a start-up;
the comparable number in the US that year was79.6%.
• Only 3.9% of university technologies in Japan arelicensed to start-ups, compared to 17.1% oflicenses in the US.

https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-019-00833-3

SMRITI MALLAPATY “Japan’s start-upgulf,” NATURE INDEX 20 MARCH 2019
• In a 2014 survey of 264 Japanese companies, Koichi
Sumikura, an innovation policy analyst at the research
institute GRIPS, found significant discrepancies in their viewsof domestic versus international academic collaborators.
These companies tended to hold Japanese universities inlower regard than foreign institutions, especially whenlooking at the pace of research and its commercial
practicality.
• The companies felt that Japanese TLOs were unable toprovide the administrative infrastructure and services
needed to support collaborations with academia. They alsofeared that trade secrets were leaked to competitors. Thereis a clear discrepancy, says Sumikura, between the corporate
drive to quickly turn research results into commercial
applications, and the academic incentives to publish papers
on basic research.
https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-019-00833-3

Problems on the side of university or PRIs （N=264）（The data from the corporations that answered on both of domestic and foreign university and PRIs were collected.）

Survey on Research Activities of Private Corporations 2014 (NISTEP, 2015)17

For more information, pleaserefer to my recent article.
• Koichi Sumikura (2022)“Mission-oriented Innovation Policies in Japan:
focusing on function of intellectual property andtechnology transfer,”
Asian Research Policy, Vol.13, December 2022, 84-91.
https://swallow.kistep.re.kr/arpIssue.es?act=content_
view&list_no=215&act=content_view&mid=a208020
00000

Thank you very much!