Improving intellectual property creation and management in R&D
A case study of a Japanese funding program leads to suggestions for optimizing scientific and technological innovation
Generating and managing intellectual property is an important aspect of research and development (R&D), traditionally carried out in industrial laboratories. At the same time, innovation is often achieved through collaboration between academia, industry and government. Optimal intellectual property management is then far from straightforward because of the different actors involved, all having different specialties and operating in different settings. Now, Shuto Miyashita and colleagues from the Kawasaki Institute of Industrial Promotion have done a case study of a publicly funded university–industry–government R&D collaboration, resulting in a suggested strategy for optimizing intellectual property management in such a context.