technology transfer
Route to Market Guide for Innovators
The Route to Market (R2M) series is being developed by the Department of Research Contracts & Innovation (RC&I) at the University of Cape Town using funding from the Department of Science and Technology’s National Intellectual Property Office (NIPMO). Each booklet focuses on a specific sector/product type and highlights the key steps and considerations in bringing such a product to market in that sector – with an emphasis on the local South African context.
The hope is that this guide on Medical Devices and other booklets, such as this guide on Pharmaceutical Products will be useful to both Researchers and Innovators, as well as Technology Transfer professionals working at institutional Technology Transfer Offices (TTOs).
The books have been released under a Creative Commons license to enable other institutions to customise them for their own use.
Trade secrecy and COVID-19
In this working paper, Innovation Council’s Mark Schultz and his colleagues analyse how trade secrets and other IPRs underpin innovation and manufacturing of Covid-19 Vaccines. They document that innovators already are sharing secrets and know-how widely with dozens of partners across the world to produce vaccine and therapeutic doses as quickly as possible. In several instances, they are working closely with their biggest competitors, thanks to the security provided by trade secrecy and other IP laws.
The authors conclude that forcing the disclosure of trade secrets would get in the way of manufacturing badly needed doses of Covid-19 vaccines by undermining voluntary arrangements and diverting resources from where they are needed most.
ICC-WIPO Virtual Seminar: Harnessing Public Research for Innovation in the Time of Covid-19 and Beyond
On 20 July, ICC is co-organizing a seminar on “Harnessing Public Research for Innovation in the Time of Covid-19 and Beyond – The Role of Knowledge Transfer Policies” together with the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO), AUTM, and the Licensing Executives Society International (LESI). This virtual session will take place from 12:30-15:25 CET (Geneva time) and will be held in English with simultaneous interpretation provided in Arabic, Chinese, French, Russian and Spanish.
Please register here with the following secure code: 33WSMBV521.
swiTTreport2020: SWISS TECHNOLOGY TRANSFER REPORT
swiTT, the Swiss technology transfer association, has published its annual survey. The report covers two main areas: a) research contracts of the participating institutions with private or public partners, and b) activities for the economic exploitation of research results from these institutions. The Swiss PRO interacts very actively with partners in the economy, and its activities are collectively designated in the report as “technology transfer” (TT) activities.