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Development and Evaluation of a New Framework to Promote Agricultural Intellectual Property Management 16,400, 000 yen [Grant Project] The University of California, Davis Campus (USA) The patent system endows exclusive rights to inventors. The protection of their rights, however, can sometimes hinder effective uses of the patents. Such negative effects are most grave in studies of biological engineering in the agriculture of developing world, warranting a new mechanism that facilitates smooth and effective applications of patented technologies. Choosing Vietnam as a pilot case, this three-year project makes use of a patent database which has been co-developed through the collaboration of 40 research institutions in 11 countries to develop as well as evaluate a mechanism to realize an effective and smooth utilization of patents in agricultural field. Based on the results of the pilot initiative in Vietnam, the projects will be expanded to other Southeast Asian countries to verify if it can be put to a general use. The following activities are planned in the first year of the project. 1. Workshop (July 2007, 2-day in Hanoi and Ho Chi Min, respectively) A workshop will be organized with approximately 40 researchers in universities and/or public research institutions and government officials to grasp issues in bio-engineering researches in agriculture as well as to evaluate patent-related needs. 2. Technical Instructions (October 2007 - February 2008) On the basis of issues identified in the workshop, queries of patents and legal/technical instruction will be given to different groups (3-5 organizations) utilizing the patent database. Technical instructions through remote communication and/or on-site assistance by local Vietnamese instructors will be employed to cover the following grounds: 1) How patents necessary in specific studies can be assessed; 2) How the availability of specific patents can be ascertained; and 3) the protection, management of intellectual properties as well as strategic employment of them practiced in the international market. (First year of a 3-year project) |
