UK universities prove resilience during Horizon hiatus
Before news broke last week of the new Horizon funding deal for the UK, IP law firm Mathys & Squire reported that the UK’s 50 biggest universities filed 433 new patent applications in the period 2021-2022.
This number fell from 474 in 2020-2021—the year of Brexit and the withdrawal of funding from Horizon Europe—representing a decline of 9%.
Despite the dip, these figures are proof that UK universities continued to be among the world’s most innovative, despite the removal, albeit temporarily, of this valuable source of EU funding.
In the 12 months leading up to September 30, 2022, the University of Oxford proved to be the most prolific patent filer, followed by Imperial College London and the University of Cambridge, found Mathys & Squire.
Areas such as material science, biotech and pharmaceuticals are among those where university-generated IP has been most noticeable. For example, the UK’s first approved COVID vaccine was developed at Oxford.
In comparison, universities in the US still lead the way for IP innovation, according to figures supplied by Mathys & Squire. The most prolific filers of patent applications in 2022 were Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) and Harvard University, which filed 329 and 247 applications respectively.
Legislation such as the Bayh-Dole Act has helped the US to maintain its position. The act enables the government to protect US technology by granting patent ownership to universities. In turn, universities are incentivised to take full ownership through a slice of royalties for a project that it didn’t need to fund.
Pandemic-driven research
The pandemic in particular drove a lot of research areas such as diagnostics and therapeutics, which are areas “where there's a lot of research in the UK anyway”, says Iain Armstrong, a partner at Mathys & Squire.
“Pharmaceuticals, life sciences, and medical research leading to inventions are areas where it fits well, for the UK at least,” he tells LSIPR. “And I think we saw that once people had already done some of the research, then they were continuing with the patent filings around it.”
For example, Oxford University Innovation, which manages the university’s IP, has an “admirable track record” of successfully launching spinout businesses and attracting investment based on the university's IP. As such, the organisation says it has built up a reputation as a leader in biotechnology and pharmaceuticals.
In 2021, it was named by GovGrant as the best UK university for commercial spinouts, with Oxford Nanopore Technologies—valued at more than £2 billion ($2.5 billion)—topping the list.
And Cambridge University has become one of Europe’s most successful technology clusters, home to 12 companies valued at more than $1 billion, including pharma giant AstraZeneca.
Cambridge has also acted as a catalyst for many such firms, with output either directly based on research produced by the university, or in collaboration with research teams.
Mathys & Squire also found that many of the patent applications filed by UK universities are in areas in which technological progress is in high demand. This includes nanotechnology, green technology and artificial intelligence.
Horizon hero
But up until September 7, UK universities were facing serious funding shortfalls due to a lack of EU investment post-Brexit. Universities, which had previously benefited from the European Regional Development Fund, may have had to scale back on IP projects without Horizon funding.
Armstrong says that the UK rejoining Horizon “is fantastic news in terms of the impact on research in the UK”.
“Whether it's foundational research or translational research—either of those are going to benefit from the Horizon funding.
“It makes up for a big gap over the last two and a half years or so. It's great news for research across a whole load of areas, and generally, anything which is good for the general tide of research in the UK is good for the IP that's coming out of the UK.”
He adds: “Quality research tends to lead to good quality IP.”
UK universities show resilience
Despite the dip in funding from the Horizon hiatus, UK universities were still performing relatively well.
“University research in the UK is still at a very, very high level,” says Armstrong, adding that a lack of funding doesn't immediately erode that research.
Nevertheless, it would be unrealistic to have expected that to continue.
“There are still very clever people who are still doing phenomenal research, and universities have continued to perform well,” he adds.
“But I suspect that that's not sustainable long term, without the funding, which is why it's a good thing that [the Horizon funding is] back in place.”
He adds that had the new Horizon deal not been struck, the effect could have been “a relatively slow atrophy”, with fewer people wanting to come to the UK.
“You would have expected a brain drain over a period of time—there's more funding, more research, and better opportunities for people to go elsewhere.”
IP challenges
As it stands, those fears are now quelled—at least while Horizon is back on the funding table for UK research scientists.
Janine Swarbrick, a patent director at HGF, highlights that with the UK rejoining Horizon, there will be increased opportunities for UK scientists to work with scientists across the EU once again. And the IP strategy, of course, should be on the agenda from the start.
“This means documenting who is contributing what knowledge and discoveries to a project, who owns the IP and having agreements in place if needed, where innovations are taking place, and ensuring that any public discussions at conferences or in journals come after a documented discussion on whether patent protection should be in place before that public disclosure.”
She points to the importance of collaboration in life science innovation, which “often relies on multinational teams of researchers working together to solve challenging problems”.
“In my field of computing, I have seen a significant increase in the amount of software-based innovation coming from diverse teams working in digital health and bio-computing, including in AI-based invention and computational modelling of life science systems,” she tells LSIPR.
And a combination of IP protection, not just patents, is possible.
“Here, IP in the form of a combination of patents and trade secrets can work really well together to protect inventions,” explains Swarbrick.
“IP protection of these types of invention, and other life science innovations, can be complex—there can be considerations of technicality, enablement, sufficiency, and supporting data to make, as well as where the invention is taking place.
“As with diversity in geographical location, having diversity of thought in a research team can really help to see the potential in a project.
“By that I mean having the academic contribution, as well as guidance, from a business and finance perspective, possibly regulatory knowledge if the research relates to a regulated activity (and if that is different in the EU to the UK) and, of course, IP support.
That is not to say that challenges do not exist in securing IP protection for UK research projects, and Horizon is no exception.
Sally Shorthose, a partner at Bird & Bird, notes that “the IP provisions in the Horizon project are generally not easy to negotiate or change”.
“But it is always important for collaborators to ensure that all parties secure the rights of ownership, and not to kick the decision down the road and/or to rely on the oft-favoured but rarely ideal solution of joint ownership of IP."
Unless, that is, the terms of that ownership are carefully set out, with step in rights as needed for prosecution and protection, she tells LSIPR.
In the end, though, the UK remains in a good place. As Sarah Hanson, partner and co-chair in the life sciences & healthcare sector at CMS, notes: “The UK has always had a long tradition of commercialising academic research and so there is a well-worn path ensuring that life sciences innovations thrive.
“The academic research community is a key part of the life sciences ecosystem. The UK retaining its place with Horizon will only help maintain that position and through the UK’s collaboration with other members in Horizon lead to future advances that will benefit the world at large.”
