University initiative offers 'easy access' to IP portfolio

The project, entitled ’Easy Access IP’, aims to speed up the transfer of academic knowledge and expertise into the hands of commercial partners, who can then develop it to benefit the economy and society as a whole.

In March, Bristol and Glasgow universities and King’s College London won £80,000 in funding from the Intellectual Property Office — the government body responsible for granting IP rights in the UK — to become ’open innovation’ universities.

Bristol University released its first Easy Access IP opportunities alongside King’s College London this week.

Dr Malcolm Skingle, director of academic liaison at GlaxoSmithKline (GSK), today praised the consortium’s efforts to explore new ways of sharing university IP and said: ’While sharing IP through traditional methods and licensing will still be appropriate in some instances, this new approach presents another way for universities to drive the development of new technology.’

Dr Alison Campbell, director of innovation at King’s College London, said: ’Some university IP can be too early stage for a company to risk investment and could present an uncertain market, which can sometimes hinder industry take-up of IP. By offering easy access to this IP, companies can evaluate it quickly and explore its potential with reduced risk. This also means that we’re disseminating more of our knowledge for public benefit.’