I was once involved in a government program to support regional projects that would make effective use of the intellectual properties of the universities in that region. We evaluated the business models and core technologies of the projects. Then, we often faced the problem that the patents on their core technologies are jointly owned by […]

Previously on this blog, we featured a story about a fight on patent royalty between a university researcher and a licensee company. And, it suggested a problem of a talent shortage for intellectual property in the university.  Licensing Revenues of Japanese Universities When talking about licensing revenues of universities, Japanese universities are often compared with American universities. […]

Japanese scientist Tasuku Honjo, a winner of the Nobel Prize in physiology or medicine in 2018, is fighting over patent royalty rate against Ono Pharmaceutical, a Japanese pharmaceutical company. Background Reportedly, in 2006, Honjo and Ono entered a license agreement for the patents on PD-1 which was applied to the cancer drug Opdivo (nivolumab). However, […]