WHITE PAPER ON SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY2003[2 Chapter2 2 2]

In a competitive environment fueled by the market mechanism, R&D results become widely dissemin ated in the form of usable properties or services. The role of industrial technology is to serve as a bridge between intellectual properties and the economy i.e., people's everyday lives. In order to reinforce industrial technology, certain S&T reforms are indispensable.

Central among them is reform of the collaboration among industry, academia, and the government. A t echnological innovation system should be established in which industrial/academic/governmental collab oration can be promoted and innovative assets and services can be generated at the same time. This wi ll require removing the invisible walls among the three sectors, such as by utilizing academic achiev ements in industry and transmitting industrial needs to public research organizations.

Today, when private companies in Japan are increasingly outsourcing their basic R&D to research organizations across the globe, it is more important than ever to formulate a common understanding b etween private companies and public research organizations, and to promote collaboration among Japane se industries, academic institutions, and government. Industry must present its needs, and public res earch organizations must promote R&D in consideration of these needs. Specifically:

- Public research organizations should strengthen their ability to disseminate information on their research systems, achievements and human resources by preparing or improving their database.

- Public research organizations should promote collaboration with industries through personnel excha nges, such as by proactively employing researchers from private companies, in order to accurately ref lect the economic needs of society through their R&D topics. Public research organizations should also periodically hold meetings in which both sectors can exchange information on the latest R&D trends and requirements, and secure and train personnel to promote their collaboration. Joint-resear ch centers and technology licensing offices should promote free exchange of information. Through thes e activities, public research organizations can rise to meet current economic, social, and socio-econ omic challenges.

- To stimulate incentives for private companies, public research organizations should simplify their procedures for joint or entrusted researches, cost estimation, reports, etc. such as by implementing organizations, cost estimations, reports, etc. And private funds for public research organizations s hould be made available for the indirect expenses of those organizations.

- In regard to competitive funds, workers in the industrial sector should be involved in the theme selection or interim/follow-up evaluations, and should be appointed as managers of industry-academia collaborative projects, in order to appropriately convey economic/social needs to the direction of R&D.

- Because there are strong economic/social needs with regard to international standardization, not o nly basic but also practical cooperative researches should be conducted.

(a) Promoting technological transfer of public research organizations In order to promote technological transfer from public research organizations to industry, it is important to strengthen systematic measures for the collaboration. Particularly in universities, the function of joint research centers should be functionally enhanced by appropriate inter-faculty personnel exchanges. Technology licensing organizations should be utilized independently to commercialize R&D results in public research organizations. Moreover, activity records of industry-academia-government collaboration should be regarded as one of the factors used to evaluate research organizations or researchers.
(b) Promoting patent management by public research organizations Each public research organization should establish a mechanism to commercialize useful R&D resu lts. - During the period of the First Basic Plan, assignment of patent rights to individual researches ha s been promoted, in order to enhance incentives of researchers and to accelerate transfer of research ers with patent rights. And although the number of patent rights assigned to individual researchers h as increased, the number of commercially applied patents has not necessarily been enhanced. In order that R&D results be applied more effectively and efficiently for commercial purposes, patent righ ts management should generally be shifted from individual to organizational. - Research organizations should be equipped with functions for acquisition, management, and applicat ion of patent rights. And technology licensing organizations should support those functions of resear ch organizations. - Turning to organizational patent management, a system should be developed such that patent fees wi ll be properly shared with the corresponding inventors. Even when researchers change employers, the i nventor's privileges should be taken into consideration.

These reforms should first be introduced in independent administrative institutions, and then consi dered for universities and other institutions. In light of globalization relating to patents, public research organizations should also be encouraged to acquire patents not only in Japan but also in for eign countries.

R&D results of public research organizations, attained in joint researches with private companies or sponsored researches by private companies, should be applied to commercialization. The motivation of private companies to participate in joint research will be enhanced by promoting transfer of R&D results to private companies. Accordingly, the results of R&D attained in joint or sponsored researches should be transferred to the companies concerned. In particular, this should be accomplished by transferring government-owned patents to private companies or technology licensing organizations, and by granting exclusive licenses of government-owned patents to private companies or technology licensing offices. To realize these goals, public research organizations should be encouraged to assign their R&D results, by the contracts at discretion, to the companies concerned or to the TLOs authorized under the Law for Promoting Research Results of Universities to Private Companies (1998, Law No. 52), or to make contracts of the assignment with TLOs on a deferred payment basis.

In personnel matters, researchers in public research organizations should utilize the personnel sys tems to allow simultaneous employment with the companies concerned or employment suspension. The gove rnment should permit their engagements of study or instruction in private companies. These treatment s will enable human resources in public research organizations to play an active part in society, so that technology transfer can be promoted.

The environment for activating venture enterprises in Japan has been improved in regard to both cap ital and human resources. Nonetheless, further measures should be conducted in consideration of the r elative disfavor for entrepreneurship, the difficulty for securing initial risk money, and the indivi dual risks of failure. In particular:

- Universities should foster human resources of entrepreneurial spirit, as by establishing courses t hat invite entrepreneurs or venture capitalists to appear as lecturers, etc. Graduate schools should enrich special education courses to improve capital/legal skills, and to promote joint researches with venture enterprises through joint research centers.

- Regional public research organizations should establish better cooperation with regional venture e nterprises by functioning as coordinators, securing mobility of human resources, and promoting cooper ative projects for industry-academia-government collaboration.

- The government should improve its system for promoting innovation and R&D by small and medium enterprises, particularly by positively utilizing the institution of Small Business Innovation Resear ch (SBIR).

- Finally, the government should review its present legislation on stock-options, stock companies, a nd bankruptcy.


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