Page 83 - OHKF_Gerontech_report_en

First, Hong Kong universities, with their conservative patent independently commercialised (Table 7). We recommend that
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ownership policies, trail behind international counterparts. For Hong Kong universities provide flexible policies on patent
example, in Hong Kong, patents are owned by the university ownership and buyout, detailing how the patent buyout price
Education & Talent Development
unless the inventor buys out the patent and absorbs all costs is determined to both inventors and investors and give them
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including research, filing, and legal fees. In contrast, global the first right to buy out patents.
peers allow inventors to assume full ownership if the invention is

Table 7. Patent ownership policies among selected universities

University Patent ownership Patent ownership
(Creation stage) (Filing stage)

Owned by university, unless inventors
buy out the patent at a price with
Hong Kong universities Owned by university
recovery of research costs,
patent filing, attorney fees, etc. [1]

University of Cambridge Owned by inventors if
Owned by university
(UK) commercialised via their own efforts

University of Toronto Owned jointly by university Owned by inventors if
(Canada) and inventors commercialised via their own efforts

University of Waterloo
Owned by inventors Owned by inventor
(Canada)

Karolinska Institutet
(Karolinska Institute, Owned by inventors Owned by inventor
Sweden)

Note: [1] Some local universities provide further flexibility. For instance, the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology (HKUST) offers flexible terms under the HKUST
Entrepreneurship Program, which will be discussed in Recommendation 5.2C.
Source: OHKF, 2020
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One of the key issues related to patent buyout is lack of transparency. At present, determining the exact cost of each patent varies on a case-by-case basis, as the cost of research
may include infrastructure, laboratory, manpower costs.
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