The Intellectual Property and Technology Transfer Sub-group Survey, conducted on May 14, 2018, gathered input from forty respondents representing both research funding and research-performing entities. The survey explored a wide spectrum of issues pertinent to IP management and technology transfer agreements. Key topics included scope and ownership of intellectual property, disclosure procedures, joint ownership conditions, decisions and costs associated with patenting, research use rights, control and disclosure of licensing, royalty distribution, publication rights, and conflicts of interest. Special attention was paid to access to background IP, sharing of research materials, patient access to resulting innovations, and mechanisms ensuring such access through licensing terms.
Among the issues, royalty sharing and use of royalties for future research (56.4%), patient access to resulting drugs and devices (21.6%), control of licensing (18.4%), access to background IP (18.9%), and joint ownership rules (17.9%) surfaced as significant areas of concern. The feedback also highlighted the importance of clarifying definitions of IP affected by agreements and emphasized both the rights of funders and performers in publication and data ownership. Respondents were encouraged to comment on each topic and to suggest additional areas not covered by the survey, indicating an ongoing need for dialogue around evolving IP and technology transfer challenges in academic and business research settings.
