Minister Iswaran's oral reply to PQ on patents developed by Government Institutes and Autonomous Universities that have been commercialised

Question 

Mr Leon Perera: To ask the Minister for Trade and Industry (Industry) (a) what is the breakdown of the number of patents developed by Government research centres/institutes and autonomous universities in the past ten years which have been commercialised by the private sector by way of (i) licensing via A*STAR's Exploit Technologies Pte Ltd (ETPL); (ii) licensing without going through ETPL; (iii) mechanisms other than licensing via ETPL; and (iv) mechanisms other than licensing without going through ETPL; and (b) for each group, what is the breakdown by Government-linked companies, public-listed companies, MNCs and local SMEs. 

Oral Answer by Mr S Iswaran, Minister for Trade and Industry (Industry) 

From 2004 to 2014, a total of 1,759 patents were awarded to Singapore’s public sector research performers in A*STAR and our Institutions of Higher Education. 

A*STAR and MOE track the total number of licensing agreements executed by ETPL and the Autonomous Universities (AUs) including those that involve IP that are not patented. 

The total number of licensing agreements signed by ETPL with private sector companies between FY2004 and FY2014 was 920. Of these, about 80% were with SMEs and start-ups. 

The number of licensing agreements signed by the Technology Transfer Offices in our AUs from FY2008 to FY2014 was 418. MOE does not have a breakdown of the number of licensing agreements by corporate segment but plans to start collecting this data from FY2016. 

Companies use different modalities to collaborate with our public sector research institutions on R&D. However, licensing is the primary mode adopted by ETPL and the AUs for the commercialisation of IP. A formal licensing agreement between research performers and companies ensures that both parties entering into such a commercial arrangement fully understand their rights and obligations. 

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