IP for Scientists
Universities Allied for Essential
Medicines (UAEM)
UC Berkeley
Agenda
• Patent law fundamentals
• Patenting @ Berkeley
• Office of Intellectual
Property & Industry
Research Alliances
(IPIRA)
• University patenting and
global health
• Who we are – UAEM
What is Intellectual Property?
• Intellectual Property (IP): person’s right to
have control over the things s/he creates.
• Examples of types of IP
Patent
Copyright
Trademark
The Balance of IP Law
IP is an attempt to balance between
providing financial incentive for innovation
and allowing for access to technologies
Access
Ownership
• Allow the public to
use and benefit from
the invention
• Promote research and
protect investments
• Create competition
Patent Law – Give and Take
What you give
• A written description of
your invention
• Enablement: disclose
how to make and use
your invention
• Best mode: disclose the
best mode of patenting
your invention
What you get
• An exclusive right to
exclude others from
making, selling, or using
your invention for a
limited period of time
• The power to assign or
license your rights to
someone else
What do universities do with patents?
Research
Decision to Patent
License to Industry
• Licensing: letting a third party use the patented
technology under certain conditions
Licensee
– Exclusive license
Licensor
– Non-exclusive license
Patenting @ Berkeley
• Office of Intellectual Property &
Industry Research Alliances (IPIRA)
• Assistant Vice Chancellor Carol
Mimura, Ph.D.
• [Picture of building]
Office of Intellectual Property & Industry
Research Alliances (IPIRA)
(Assistant Vice Chancellor Carol Mimura )
Office of Technology
Licensing (OTL)
Industry Alliances
Office (IAO)
• One stop shop for industry-university
relations, including sponsored research
and intellectual property.
Contact IPIRA for…
• Disclose an invention
• Material transfer
• Sponsored research agreement
http://otl.berkeley.edu
University Licensing & Global
Health: Why Should We Care?
• Gaps in Drug Development Pipeline
– Lack of research
– Lack of production
• Poor access
– High, unaffordable
prices
– Lack of adaptive formulations for drugs
• Why? Business  profit-based incentives
• Result: Lack of access to life-saving drugs
What can universities do?
• Universities are major players in the drug
development field – 40-50% of pharmaceutical
industry’s new products rely on academic research.
What can Berkeley do?
• Berkeley - a history of public service
– "The distinctive mission of the University is to serve
society as a center of higher learning, providing longterm societal benefits through transmitting advanced
knowledge, discovering new knowledge, and
functioning as an active working repository of
organized knowledge.”
• Socially responsible licensing
Socially Responsible Licensing
• Maximize the social benefit of
discoveries made at Berkeley
through equitable licensing
• Example policies
– Royalty-free license terms for
products sold in developing world
– Requirement that licensees provide
low-cost therapies for free or for
minimal profit in developing world
– Private-public partnerships
(Peg Skorpinski photo)
Universities Allied for
Essential Medicines
• International student organization
• Two-fold Mission
– Ensuring access to
life-saving medicines
– Promoting research
on neglected diseases
• www.essentialmedicine.org
• http://uaem.berkeley.edu