Financing Knowledge Transfer in Europe FinKT project

Transcription

1 Financing Knowledge Transfer in Europe FinKT project Federico Munari Department of Management, Bologna University EIBURS meeting, EIB Luxembourg, 24 January 2013

2 Objectives of the FinKT project ( Financing Knowledge Transfer in Europe ) Overall goal: analyse the financial instruments and the forms of partnerships between financial investors and universities/pros that can facilitate technology transfer in Europe The project is undertaken by the Department of Management of the University of Bologna, in collaboration with Bocconi University (Duration: Mar 2012-Feb 2015) The project is funded by the European Investment Bank, under the EIBURS measure Project website: finkt.unibo.it Slide 1 July 6, 2012 KTSP meeting, EIB, Paris FINKT project

3 Structure of the FinKT project» 4 Work-Packages on Research activities WP 1: The institutional context for technology transfer and IP finance in Europe: a multi-country comparison WP 2: The determinants of IP exploitation of universities and PROs: licensing, patent sale and start-ups WP 3: The design and impact of financial instruments for technology transfer WP 4: Policy guidelines» 2 Work-Packages on Training and dissemination activities WP 5: Summer School WP 6: Diffusion activities Slide 2 July 6, 2012 KTSP meeting, EIB, Paris FINKT project

4 Empirical / methodological aspects Extensive coverage: Multi-country perspective: analysis of all the main European Member States which implemented experiences of technology transfer financing; Different mechanisms for technology transfer: sale and licensing of patents generated from universities, and the creation of new academic spin-offs; Different types of financial instruments: university seed funds, designed to provide equity financing to new ventures stemming from universities, and patent-backed financial instruments, such as proof-of-concept funds, IP and royalty funds, designed to valorize specific IP assets. Combination of different methodological approaches: econometric techniques on survey-data or newly developed datasets on venture-backed spin-offs qualitative techniques, based on the realization of case-studies related to different experiences of technology transfer financing Slide 3 July 6, 2012 KTSP meeting, EIB, Paris FINKT project

5 WP1: The institutional context for technology transfer and IP finance in Europe: a multi-country comparison Review and updated map of university IPR laws and rules in the main European countries Assessment of the consequences for the involvement of financial investors in technology transfer Understanding incentive mechanisms of academics and researchers and the diversity of institutional logics of industry work, that may represent barriers to TT activities Map and analysis of policy measures established in Europe to support TT investing, with specific attention to: a) direct financial support (i.e. patent subsidies); b) support for partnerships between universities and financial investors (i.e. patent funds) Slide 4 July 6, 2012 KTSP meeting, EIB, Paris FINKT project

6 WP2: The determinants of IP exploitation of universities and PROs: licensing, patent sale and start-ups Analyses of the determinants of different means for TT by universities and PROs: patent licensing, patent sale, spin-offs (and commercialization in products and processes). Assessment of the differential impact of relevant factors on joint or alternative means for TT Determinants of willingness to TT vs. actual decisions of TT: assessment of obstacles and facilitating factors for IP markets Many unused patents, but willing to be used: how to exploit these patents? What are the barriers/difficulties to access technology markets? Higher barriers to licensing than spin-offs? Assessment of the impact of type of funding and partnerships on intentions and actual decisions of patent licensing, patent sale and spin-offs Slide 5 July 6, 2012 KTSP meeting, EIB, Paris FINKT project

7 The commercialization of patents by university and PROs an analysis based on data from the Patval II survey Objectives Understand whether and how the ownership of IPRs by universities and PROs affect their subsequent commercialization by considering three exploitation routes: Patent sales Licensing Spin-off formation Empirical evidence from a sample of 1297 EPO patents with inventors employed by universities and PROs in 23 countries 6

8 Ownership patterns of University/PRO patents 1. With respect to the paper by Crespi et al, (2010), we find a significant increase in the shares of patents owned by universities and PROs Authors Giuri and Munari, 2012 Giuri and Munari, 2012 Crespi et al., 2010 N. Countries Priority dates % University Owned 44% 45% 18% % University Invented 56% 55% 82% % PRO Owned 76% 85% 42% % PRO Invented 24% 15% 58% 7

9 Patent ownership and commercialization outcomes: descriptive statistics All patents Sale License Spin-off External Use University/PRO Owned 8.32% 27.59% 14.54% 35.89% University/PRO Invented 13.15% 17.95% 15.93% 34.85% Total 10.32% 23.71% 15.13% 35.47% Only University patents Sale License Spin-off External Use University Owned 14.39% 36.98% 23.30% 48.43% University Invented 15.02% 17.37% 15.21% 36.73% Total 14.71% 27.29% 19.05% 42.69% Only PRO patents Sale License Spin-off External Use PRO Owned 2.21% 19.13% 5.71% 23.50% PRO Invented 7.35% 17.39% 13.33% 25.81% Total 3.40% 18.73% 7.50% 24.01% 8

10 WP3:The design and impact of financial instruments for technology transfer Map and analysis of University Seed Funds established in Europe» Study of the success rates of academic spin-offs backed by USFs, as compared to other VC-backed new ventures.» Analysis of the impact of the type of affiliation and investment strategies of USFs Map and classification of the proof-of-concept funds established in Europe for technology transfer» Understand under which conditions they can be effectively exploited» Identify critical success factor in their design and implementation Slide 9 July 6, 2012 KTSP meeting, EIB, Paris FINKT project

11 Mapping University Seed Funds and Proof-of-concept Funds in Europe: initial evidence (based on Thomson One and Internet searches) Distribution of USF 5 4 (n=59) Distribution of companies funded by USF (n=472) (n=24) Distribution of PoC funds

12 WP4: Policy guidelines Implications for Policy measures on: Financial support to universities and TTOs and partnerships between financial investors and universities Functioning of IP markets and participation of research organizations: analysis of impediments and facilitating factors, including financial instruments and supporting institutions Optimal structuring of university seed funds programs, setting up of patent-based financial instruments improving the organization of public-private partnerships between government and regional authorities, universities and research centers and financial institutions, aimed at enhancing technology transfer activities. improving the design and implementation of publicly-supported financial instruments to promote technology transfer Slide 11 July 6, 2012 KTSP meeting, EIB, Paris FINKT project

13 Main training and dissemination activities Workshop (1 st year) for discussing the themes of the FinKT project with academics, invited experts in the field from Europe, including representatives of TTOs, financial intermediaries, EIB/EIF.» Objective: insights from experts and assessment of the FinKT prokect activities, work in progress, preliminary results and future plans workshop (2 nd year) oriented to TTOs in Europe, financial intermediaries (including VC) and other institutions involved in TT operations» Involvement of Netval, Proton and other relevant networks Summer school on Economics and Management of IPRs (2 nd year): directed to Phd students and other interested people, with the participation of academics expert in the field (including the FinKT team), EIB and other experts from relevant institutions (June 2013) Organization of a parallel or plenary session within the 2013 EPIP conference on IP legal and regulatory system / financial instruments and TT Final Conference (3 rd year) on financing TT, with call for papers and a round table with invited policy makers Slide 12 July 6, 2012 KTSP meeting, EIB, Paris FINKT project

14 Contacts and project website Project website: finkt.unibo.it - Paola Giuri, paola.giuri@unibo.it - Federico Munari, federico.munari@unibo.it