The Emergence of New Technology Transfer Patterns: from the Experience of Stanford University with C

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The Emergence of New Technology Transfer
Patterns from the Experience of Stanford
University with ChinaInternational Patent
Licensing Seminar, 2006Tokyo, Japan

• Richard B. Dasher, Ph.D.
• Director, US-Asia Technology Management
  CenterExecutive Director, Center for Integrated
  Systems
• Stanford University

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Patterns of university-industry technology
transfer (U.S.)

• Linear hand-off (traditional path)
• Students graduate and transfer knowledge to
  companies
• Public domain academic papers transfer knowledge
  from university researchers to industry RD
  community
• Spillover (since 1980s)
• Real-time knowledge-sharing between university
  and industry
• Channels visitors, joint RD, open university
  labs
• Technology marketplace (growing since 1990s)
• Technology licensing, start-up company creation
• Rosenberg and Nelson (1996)

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Knowledge transfer patterns from
university-to-industry - 1
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Spillover model different types of
relationships
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University-Industry Relationships with Chinese
Partners Still Center on Linear Hand-OffWhat
Comes Next Licensing or Spillover?
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Background Higher Education in China - 1

• Shift from western-style to Soviet style, 1949 -
  1978 (universities specialized in fields,
• Shut-down of universities during cultural
  revolution (1964 - 1976)
• Nationwide college entrance exams resumed 1978
• Chinese government sends grad students, visiting
  scholars to U.S. from late 1970s

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Higher education in China - 2

• Recent dramatic developments
• Chinese government announces it will build some
  Chinese universities into world-class
  institutions 1998
• Mergers between 1996 - 2000, 383 universities
  into 212
• Hiring of returnee-professors (from universities
  abroad)

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Background High-Tech Business in China

• Tend to compete on cost, not innovation
• RD localization and some re-engineering (e.g.
  for cost, IP issues)
• Hiring from U.S. (including returnees) for
  management skills and experience, not to do
  research
• Foreign RD labs in China active programs with
  Chinese universities, hire recent graduates
• Little direct interaction between Chinese
  companies and U.S. universities

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China and Japan at Stanford(2003, lt Bechtel
Internatl Center 2004 Annual Report)

• Students China is 1 foreign country of origin
  (Japan is 9)
• Visiting scholars and Post-docs Japan is 1
  foreign country of origin (China is 4)
• Many Japanese visiting scholars sponsored by
  Japanese companies
• Very few Chinese visiting scholars sponsored by
  Chinese companies

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China at Stanford, continued

• Only one active technology license to a PRC
  company (for use in U.S. market)
• After extensive search could only find one
  Stanford research project sponsored by a PRC
  company (TuHa Oil in late 1990s, about geologic
  formation in China)
• After extensive search could only find one PRC
  company in an industry affiliate program
  (PetroChina in the Asia/Pacific Research Center)

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But, Stanford - China Cooperation Increasing

• Executive education, short courses aimed at China
  market this year by Graduate school of Business,
  Law School, Engineering School, Stanford Center
  for Professional Development
• Discussions of possible graduate student exchange
  program between Stanford Engineering and Tsing
  Hua University (very, very rare occurrence)
• Recent inquiries by Chinese companies about
  research relationships

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Hypotheses about the Future

• Chinese companies will become more interested in
  U.S. university research and technology, as their
  basis for competitiveness shifts from cost to
  innovation
• This shift will be accelerated, if Chinese
  companies focus more on international markets
  than on the domestic China market
• Spillover research relationships and technology
  licensing will probably develop at same time
• Need for technology recipient to understand its
  use