Tech transfer current reforms in France: new trajectories based on a decade of

innovation law

Vincent LAMANDEréseau C.U.R.I.E.

INTERNATIONAL WINTER SCHOOL 22-24 November 2010

ALEXANDRIE

Réseau C.U.R.I.E. Who are we ?

French academic TT National network

2009 Outcomes200 professionals trained per year

200,000 laboratory notebooks distributed

Staff exchange with USA

An annual congress gathering 400 professionals

A unique website gathering the public French tech offers

www.F2T.fr

1991: Creation Réseau C.U.R.I.E.

Promoting and supporting technology transfer through education, advocacy, networking and communication. As most of its sister associations in the world!

163 public research organizations

1000 professionals (TT officers, research contracts, FP7, …)

A single & direct access to 150,000 researchers

An international network and a bridge for Europe, USA, Québec, Brésil, Chine

Partnerships with EPO/INPI, ASTP, PROTON, AUTM, SITTNET, BTEC …

4

Tech Transfer French Policy Milestones

1982 : Research and technology framework law

1984 : Higher education and Universities Law

1999 : Innovation and research law

2006 : Research program law

2007 : Autonomy university law

Tech Transfer French Specificities

• National research organisations (CNRS, INSERM, INRA, INRIA, etc…): “thematic field oriented” with a long tradition in TT

• Since 4 years: Emerging “local” entities:

• at regional level (i.e. Bretagne, Aquitaine, Alsace)

• At municipality level when big enough (Paris, Lyon, Toulouse)

• Dual system, & differences among structures

General overview

Increasing role of campus• strong wish of French government (sourcing its

model from US examples, i.e. Berkeley university)• National loan 17 billons € for research &

Technology

Agenda for next years• Enforcing autonomy of universities• Enhancing IP management among public

organisations• Local management of TT & commercialisation

research results

What we have learnt from the last decades (1)

• Economy of knowledge and innovation

• Main global feature: Asia, Europe, America

• Strong implication of academic sector

• With local & overseas companies

• Complexity of IP & TT

• Economic, social, environmental, ethical issues

Academic sector is key for innovation

• Needs to identify and make accessible skills and know how of research labs (especially to SME's)

• Adapt IP portfolio to industry needs (from patent to technology « grasping »)

• Listen to the market, target high innovative sectors

• Switch from research culture to research & innovation paradigm

Tech transfer organisations play a crucial role

What we have learnt from the last decades (2)

Company clustering enhance competitiveness

• Clusters are more and more considered as vectors where tacit knowledge is shared

• They emphasize cross fertilization between education, research and industry

• They foster innovation & reinforce local dynamics

• They need coordination, advanced services and relationships with both public and private partners

What we have learnt from the last decades (3)

10

Bring value to academic inventions & boost tech transfer for the public benefit

• Settling up new organization of technology transfer

• With high professionalism and trained staff

• Strengthening regional TTO close to labs & industry needs

• Supporting technology “proof-of-concept” (maturation,

prototyping, transnational research) for innovative applications

What do we expect now?

National commitments to innovation (1)

1 billion € invested through a national loan « investissements d'avenir »

• 900 Millions €,10-12 SATT (Acceleration TT companies)

• 50 Millions €, 5 national thematic TT companies• 50 Millions €, France Brevet (IP fund)

• National calls for proposal 2010-early 2011

• Selection of projects nationwide by an international committee

• Additional support from Regions and private sector

Core objective: Accelerating Tech transfer Create value through POC funding Strong IP management & efficient transfer

Core mission Protect academic researcher enterprises and start-ups creation Create the best environment to facilitate partnerships with

companies and other partners Preserve intellectual property rights & protect assets Create value through POC funding

National commitments to innovation (2)

SATT: new tech transfer system Merger between TT local services of universities and

engineering schools

– To reach a critical mass of TT professionals

– To manage significant IP portfolio in a single entity

– To increase Marketing capabilities & bargaining power

– To Add value to inventions (potential innovations) Frame agreement with national research organizations

– To access high profile services in specific fields (Health, Agro, etc.)

– To expand international network & global markets

thematic

Multi-thematic

National

Local

CNRSFIST12,000

ONERAaerospace

INRAInra Transfert

1,800

INRIAInria Transfert

2,800

INSERMInserm Transfert

6,000

Medical h.

ICT

Agrobusiness

Univ.Univ.

Univ.Univ.

Engineering schoolsEngineering

schools

Regional TTO’s50,000

Paris hospitals

TTO’s2,000

Univ. Engineering schools

Univ.Univ.

Univ.

Engineering schools

Engineering schools

Regional TTO’s50,000

Regional TTO’s50,000

Regional TTO’s50,000

15

Engineering schools

aerospace

Univ.Univ.

Univ.Univ.Univ.

Univ.Univ.

Univ.

CEA15,000

Univ.

Univ.

Univ.

SATT core missions (1)

Provide a large range of services related to TT and commercialisation activities:

Promote innovation culture at campus level Support collaborative research Detect innovations at labs (invention disclosures) Manage IP portfolio Organize company scouting and answer industry

requests

Organize vertical integration of TT activities Educational sessions to researchers and master degree Project engineering from early stage technology to

commercialization and transfer Defining IP & TT strategies Support patenting process and IP costs, up to

prosecution Financial support to innovative projects (patents,

maturation, pre-incubation, incubation, etc.)

SATT core missions (2)

SATT commercialisation way

Two routes

Dealing with existing enterprise

Start-up creation

One challenge « Finding the right partner » Information technology tools for available technologies Online database SATT + French database (F2T) International network (SITTNET, EIP, SPARK IP, EEN)

Techno push: France Technology Transfer

• A unique website of technology offers from academic research

for industrial companies and ventures capitalists :

www.f2t.fr in partnership with and

• More than 900 technology offers from the French public research available today

to industrials of various scientific backgroundsChemistry Materials Agro food

IT Energy Health

Key figures1000-1500 connexions a day

French & English Offers

Participation to Business conventions (national & abroad)

Alliances & partnershipsEnterprise Europe Network

The main European network 500 points of contact and 4.000 experts 

Spark-IP World's leading IP marketplace platform with over 50 million patent documents and over 10,000 available technologies

TechTransferOnline.com US online service of Intellectual Property (IP) to facilitates licensing

Shanghai International TechTransfer network

Chinese network dealing with international tech transfer in Shanghai

Beijing Technology exchange & promotion Center.

Chinese network dealing with international tech transfer in Beijing

To conclude

French commitment in tech transfer activities

- Enhance the invention outcomes - Accelerate tech transfer- Expand network of professional tech transfer structures

and

Welcome discussions with egyptian partners

Thank you for your attention! …and welcome french-egyptian friendship

Contact: http://curie.asso.fr

president@curie.asso.fr