Research

Intellectual Property

Intellectual Property Creation and Establishment of a Management System

Japan aims to be a science and technology nation and the role required of universities that accumulate intellectual property is growing every year. From a social contribution perspective, in order to vitalize the economy and maintain Japan’s competitive edge, universities also have an important responsibility to create intellectual property and establish systems for its use.

On October 1, 2001, Sophia University established “Sophia University Regulations with regard to new intellectual property.” These regulations define what constitutes new intellectual property invented at the university, and when such an invention is made, it is screened by a committee to decide whether a patent application will be made in the name of the university. In cases where an application is made, the university takes responsibility for the management of the intellectual property.

Intellectual Property Policy

Under Sophia University’s “Industry-Government-Academic (IGA) Collaboration Policy,” one of our goals is to channel our research results to the betterment of society. In line with that policy, we believe it is crucial to create a policy to ensure the smooth operation of the creation, protection, and use of intellectual property. The “Sophia University Intellectual Property Policy” is defined as follows.

1. Creation of Intellectual Property

We will promote the creation of intellectual property by taking positive measures to foster the development of human resources and the enrichment of the research environment.
We will promote awareness activities to raise awareness about the importance of intellectual property.
We will stimulate research activities through IGA collaborations, and commit to the creation of intellectual property.

2. Protection of Intellectual Property

We will evaluate, inherit, and acquire the rights to intellectual property originating from the inventions of corporate employees in the Sophia Corporation. By doing so, we will take measures to use intellectual property effectively in the industrial sector and protect the rights.
We will handle rewards and license fees, etc. for inventors in order to foster an intellectual property creation cycle.
We will manage inherited intellectual property and periodically reevaluate its value.

3. Use of Intellectual Property

In order to put intellectual property to its effective use in industry, we will take measures for the transfer of technology to industrial use.
We will make intellectual property accessible to the public in order to contribute to society at large.
We will make use of results from collaborative research, technology transfer, etc., by transforming them into resources to improve the research environment and increase research funds. This, in turn, will lead to the creation of new intellectual property.