Freeing up access to CERN technology
In line with CERN’s principle of maximising the dissemination of knowledge to society, the Knowledge Transfer (KT) Group has launched a new collaborative initiative to share the products of CERN’s scientific and technological labours: Easy Access IP, where IP stands for intellectual property.
CERN has a whole portfolio of dissemination channels designed and implemented by the KT Group, with Easy Access IP being the latest addition. “Inspired by the UK’s Easy Access Innovation initiative, our scheme involves making some of CERN's technologies available royalty-free and through a more agile licensing process,” explains Giovanni Anelli, head of the Group. “This approach seems to be an appropriate model for CERN, where the ultimate goal of technology transfer is not to generate income but to transfer knowledge to external partners.”
The new scheme, as the name suggests, is designed to make it easier for industry and other research institutes to access, develop and market technologies born at CERN. Firstly, and most importantly, there is no cost for the licence and there are no royalties to be paid back to CERN. This should increase the number of potential takers, in particular to include small businesses. Secondly, the licensing requirements are kept to a minimum. “Easy Access IP should help break down some of the barriers to successful technology transfer,” says Anelli. “Applicants have to provide a reasonable explanation of what they intend to do with the technology and report back on their progress once a year. This is not meant to be restrictive but is intended to make sure that the technology is being actively used. And, of course, should a successful product be developed, CERN’s contribution has to be suitably acknowledged.”
The Easy Access scheme is particularly suited to technologies that have proved difficult to exploit. This may be because they are very specific to CERN’s needs, or because they require significant investment with uncertain returns. “So while we may not get any immediate revenue from the technologies licensed under this scheme, we do get increased dissemination of knowledge produced at CERN, which is part of our core mandate. We can also build up relationships with parts of industry that we might not otherwise reach,” says Enrico Chesta, head of the Technology Transfer and IP Management Section.
Long-term relationships with external partners are key to the other technology transfer tools at the KT Group’s disposal, such as collaborative R&D projects, where joint research goals are agreed upon and not only technologies but also resources may be pooled. “It’s vital that we work not just on ‘technology push’, i.e. promoting what we already have, but also on ‘market pull’, meaning working with industry to identify mutual needs,” says Enrico Chesta.
A new webpage presenting the selected CERN technologies available in the Easy Access IP portfolio is now on line. For further information, please visit CERN Easy Access IP.
