BioSA's million dollar IP fund
BioSA has announced a new $1 million fund for intellectual property (IP) protection in South Australia’s universities, Adelaide Research Innovation (ARI), ITEK and Flinders Partners.
Back row, left to right: Mr Anthony Francis (MD, Flinders Partners), Dr Jurgen Michaelis (CE, BioSA) and Dr Justin Coombs (Corporate Development Director, BioSA). Front row: Dr Stephen Rodda (CEO, ITEK) and Robert Chalmers (MD, Adelaide Research and Innovation)
Dr Jurgen Michaelis, CEO of BioSA, said, "The grants provided through this initiative will help South Australian researchers capture and protect emerging technologies developed through the research expertise in the state's universities."
Successful IP protection and commercialisation strategies have the ability to build considerable value and facilitate the growth of the bioscience industry through the revenue generated by out-licensing technologies, the creation of spinout companies or other means.
According to Dr Michaelis, consultation with the South Australian universities' commercialisation offices has indicated that patent filing competes with several other priorities for allocation of resources in commercialisation budgets. "The fact is, expenditure for patent filing doesn't always win out in the allocation process," said Dr Michaelis.
"This makes it harder for research institutions to develop and manage a strategy for IP protection and commercialisation, so we plan to help alleviate this through our IP Management Initiative," he added.
Mr Robert Chalmers, Managing Director of the University of Adelaide commercialisation office, ARI, said, "I am a strong supporter of the IP Management Initiative as it will provide a funding opportunity that will undoubtedly enable ARI to file more patent applications and broaden the portfolio of protected technologies. It will mean that the most promising opportunities can progress with solid protection in place."
This initiative aims to reduce the financial risk inherent in IP protection and promote the proactive filing of patent applications as a first step to driving successful commercial outcomes for South Australian researchers.
Visit BioSA's website for more information about this initiative to protect the IP emerging from South Australia universities.
Last Updated: 15/9/2012
