Michael Geist law professor and the Canada Research Chair in Internet and e-commerce law at the University of Ottawa points out in his tech- blog to a  recently published article in Nature Biotechnology on the perceived effects of intellectual property protection for biological research. The article involved a detailed survey of academic agricultural biologists on their perception of IP and research. The authors' primary conclusion:

"Scientists believe that, contrary to the current consensus, proliferation of IP protection has a strongly negative effect on research in their disciplines. Our respondents' answers on the details of access problems are highly consistent with those reported in the recent literature, but they ultimately relate these problems to the proliferation of IP protection in academia. . .

They attribute problems of delayed or blocked access to needed research tools to material transfer agreements (MTAs). Academic administrators mandate use of MTAs to protect the value of the IP rights held by their institutions or to reduce their exposure to lawsuits by third parties. In short, the major impediment to accessing research tools is not patents per se, but patenting as an institutional imperative in the post-Bayh-Dole era.

As noted, the responses focus primarily on the barriers created by university promotion of IP protection through patenting and material transfer agreements. Scientists reported that these efforts result in numerous delays that impede the progress of research. Moreover, scientists express concern about the contractual restrictions on publication that come with these agreements that often cause signficant constaints on academic freedom. The article notes that these frustrations may help explain why agricultural biologists have become leaders in open source biology."

To read the article in Nature Biotechnology on the perceived effects of intellectual property protection for biological research click here.

Our friends at Afro- IP Blog (http://afro-ip.blogspot.com) report that the South African Intellectual Property Rights Act has reportedly been signed into law. The Act is not yet available online, but the bill can be accessed at http://www.dst.gov.za/publications-policies/legislation/bills/Tag_C_IPR_from_PFR_Bill.DOC/view
According to the Department of Science and Technology "The specific object of the legislation is that intellectual property emanating from publicly financed research and development should be commercialised for the benefit of all South Africans, and protected from appropriation."
This new Act is intended to provide for an enabling environment for intellectual property (IP) creation, protection, management and commercialisation, and the country's knowledge-generating institutions would now have clear guidance on how best to manage IP, as well as how to ensure that publicly financed IP went out into the market place and was used.
"Key to this, the law is aimed at facilitating the creation of new knowledge that is derived from public funding and to secure this knowledge in the form of IP rights, including, but not limited to patents, for IP that could have economic and social benefits."

The Intellectual Property Rights from Publically Financed Research and Development Act, 2008 which can be viewed here. (Thanks to the Afro-IP blog)

The Partnership model is another effort to bring university technology to the marketplace and hence achieve the goal of much desired of Transfer of Technology creating a mover innovative environment.

Phoenix Business Journal reports that Arizona State University and the University of Pennsylvania entered into a partnership to help each other commercialize technology born at the schools.

"The collaboration will team Arizona Technology Enterprises -- ASU's technology venturing arm -- and the University of Pennsylvania's Center for Technology Transfer for the purpose of bringing university technology to the marketplace.

"We are moving beyond the conventional tech transfer model by combining the collective resources of our offices for the mutual benefit of our respective clients," said Augustine Cheng, managing director of AzTE. "Penn will likely have relationships that we do not have with certain companies or venture firms that may be interested in licensing or investing in ASU technology. Their licensing professionals will likely have expertise in fields that we lack in our office. The same will be true the other way around."

Each university technology transfer office will share a percentage of any resulting income received by the other school based on the effort and activity involved in commercializing the technology. The universities will remain owners of their respective intellectual property."

To read the piece from Phoenix Business Journal click here.

The Daily Times from Islamabad reports "Ukraine offers technology transfer" as per which Ukraine has offered technology transfer in the fields of mineral, gas and health diagnostic system to Pakistan.

Ambassador of Ukraine Igor Pasco called on the Federal Minister for Commerce Makhdoom Amin Fahim in his office on Tuesday. The federal minister said, Ukraine is a big market for semi-finished goods and asked for strengthened trade relations with them. There exists a big scope of cooperation, because both the countries are members of WTO. Pasco wished of technology transfer in the fields of mineral, gas and health diagnostic system.

The news report states that "The health diagnostic system could be used in backward areas of the country where hospitals are short. The health diagnostic system could overcome the dearth of dispensaries in the far-flung areas of the country up to a larger extent. Ukraine could use the Gwadar Port via Tajikistan for an easy access to the Gulf countries, the federal minister said."

As per the fundamental principles of WTO that calls for a level playing field Makhdoom Amin Fahim asked Trade Development Authority of Pakistan to start level playing field with Ukraine government for better trade links and commercial ties by starting initial meetings.

To read the report from Daily Times click here.

Husk Power for India by Andrew Revkin in the New York Times looks into a case study that provides an example of the innovation environment in India. The NY Times piece is reproduced below. To read the article from NY Times click here.

"Many of India's cities have become bustling centers for high technology and heavy industry, but hundreds of millions of people in the countryside remain off the grid. Growing up in rural Bihar State, Manoj Sinha knew what it was like to sit in the dark. So after earning an electrical engineering degree at the University of Massachusetts, Amherst, and working for the Intel Corporation, he began exploring ways to turn farm waste into electricity, with the dream of building village-scale generators.

Last year at the University of Virginia, where he is studying for a master's at the Darden School of Business, he and a fellow student, Charles Ransler, teamed up with another engineer from Bihar, Gyanesh Pandey, and Husk Power Systems was born.

The Indian engineers, both 31, had initially planned on raising money to build small generators for simply a few villages. But the company now has a proprietary generator that runs on a methane-like gas released by heating rice husks a certain way. A waste product of rice milling, husks are plentiful in villages. While agricultural waste is common for generating heat, it is not often used for generating electricity, and there is nothing remotely like this system in the villages of developing countries. The system produces enough electricity to supply 300 to 500 households for 8 to 10 hours a day. A byproduct is silica, a valuable ingredient in making cement.

The long-term plan is to profit from the global market in credits -- earned by avoiding greenhouse-gas emissions, which result from burning fossil fuels like coal -- and to sell the benefit.

Husk Power Systems won first place in 2008 in the University of Virginia business plan competition and the social innovation competition at the University of Texas, Austin. The students are headquartered at the Darden School of Business incubator, where they get space and advice.

There are generators in five villages now, with the hope of expanding to 100 within a few years, Mr. Ransler says. Eventually, these communities could shift to other electricity sources as the Indian economy matures. But Mr. Ransler, 30, predicts there will be a market for many years to come for small-scale power systems burning renewable farm waste.

Business leaders must realize that the world's poor need investments more than handouts, he says, adding, these are customers, not victims."

Taking place on Wednesday January 14, 2009 from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. at Algoma's Water Tower Inn, The Technology Transfer Process is a full-day program that connects local SMEs with experienced professionals who will help guide them through the process while sharing their valuable expertise and advice in the field.

Technology transfer may seem like a tricky process, but the Sault Ste. Marie Innovation Centre (SSMIC) and the National Research Council - Industrial Research Assistance Program (NRC - IRAP) have partnered to deliver a user-friendly, full day workshop for entrepreneurs in the market for a new technology.

The Technology Transfer Process workshop is tailored towards SMEs who are interested in accessing these marketable technologies but are not sure where to start. The entire technology transfer process will be broken down and presented in a user-friendly manner to assist SMEs in uncovering and accessing new technologies.

"This is an excellent opportunity for local SMEs to learn how to advance their business through commercializing new technologies," said Tom Vair, executive director, SSMIC. "This workshop includes an impressive group of expert speakers that will share their knowledge of the first steps to commercialization and enable companies to make technology transfer work for their own business. We encourage all SMEs and entrepreneurs who have an interest in accessing marketable technologies and learning about the benefits of technology transfer to attend."

The cost to attend this one-day workshop is $40 per person (includes GST, full event, lunch, refreshments and networking). To register, contact: mguzzo@ssmic.com
For more info visit www.ssmic.com