Socially Responsible Licensing

An intellectual property management strategy spearheaded by UC Berkeley, known as the Socially Responsible Licensing Program (SRLP), stimulates support of the university's research and maximizes societal impact of the resulting discoveries. The UC Berkeley Office of Intellectual Property & Industry Research Alliances (IPIRA) institutionalized the SRLP strategy.

Latest IPIRA Socially Responsible Licensing Program News - April 2023: In partnership with Universities Allied for Essential Medicines (UAEM) and the Medicines Patent Pool (MPP), UC Berkeley IPIRA has released and posted a new License agreement template that includes affordable access plan (AAP) provisions for health technologies developed by university researchers. The agreement language has been used previously by the university and is designed to require eventual licensees to create an actionable plan to ensure health technologies are accessible to people in low- and middle-income countries, and to address major inequities in communities across the United States.

UC Berkeley Socially Responsible Licensing Program

News Coverage, Journal Articles, Business Model Guidance, and More

1. Commentary: University Technology Transfer Has Made a Significant Contribution to Fighting COVID-19 while Ensuring Global Access; Healthcare Policy 17(4) May 2022.
2. Partnerships & IP Management Strategies in Global Health presentation on Berkeley's SRLP at Johns Hopkins Open Science Week, 2019.
3. Examples of Socially Responsible Licensing at UC Berkeley by Berkeley Law student and member of Universities Allied for Essential Medicines (UAEM), 2010.
4. Recent Experiences in Policy Implementation of Socially Responsible Licensing in Select Universities Across Europe and North America: Identifying Key Provisions to Promote Global Access to Health Technologies Winickoff, David E., les Nouvelles, Journal of the Licensing Executives Society, Volume LIII No. 3, September 2018.
5. Private Assets, Public Mission: The Politics of Technology Transfer and the New American University Winickoff, David E., Jurimetrics, Journal of the American Bar Association, Vol 54 no. 1 (fall 2013) pp. 1-42.
6. SRLP Guidance and Clauses offering guidance and model clauses from UC Berkeley's Socially Responsible Licensing Program.
7. Patents for Humanity Award from the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office for development of an antimalarial drug in partnership with industry. See images from the awards ceremony.

• "Nuanced Management of IP Rights: Shaping Industry-University Relationships to Promote Social Impact" (Chapter 9) by Carol Mimura in Working Within the Boundaries of Intellectual Property, Rochelle Dreyfuss, Harry First, Diane Zimmerman, eds., Oxford University Press, 2010.
• "Socially Responsible Licensing, Euclidean Innovation, and the Valley of Death" in Stanford Journal of Law, Science & Policy, Issue on Access to Medicine in the Developing World, Carol Mimura, Julie Cheng, Braden Penhoet, September 2011.
• "Collaborative Innovation to Advance Global Health Solutions" In Technology and Innovation, Carol Mimura, Vol. 16, pp. 99-105, 2014.
• "Strengthening Mechanisms to Prioritize, Coordinate, Finance and Execute R&D to Meet Health Needs in Developing Countries" in Institute of Medicine of the National Academies discussion paper, Peter Hotez, Rachel Cohen, Carol Mimura, Tadataka Yamada, Stephen L. Hoffman, Deepali M. Patel, January 2013.
• "Technology Licensing for the Benefit of the Developing World" in Journal of the Association of University Technology Managers, Carol Mimura, 

  Volume 21, Issue 4, 2006. Reprinted in Industry and Higher Education IP Publishing, Vol. 21(4), August 2007.

9. Research Patently in the Public Interest about UC Berkeley's Socially Responsible Licensing Program from December 2005.
10. Nature Article by Erika Check, Nature Vol.(23) November 2006, entitled, "Universities Urged To Do More ForPoor Nations".
11. Breakthrough Business Models:  Workshop summary (see pages 71-78) describing IPIRA's approach at Berkeley to tech transfer, Institute of Medicine Drug Forum.
12. Malaria, Science and Social Responsibility - Article by Bennett Daviss, The Scientist Vol. (42) 2005. 
13. Samoa to benefit from AIDS drug - Article by Harvey Black, The Scientist.com, Oct. 01, 2004.
14. Landmark agreement between Samoa and UC Berkeley could help search for AIDS cure - Article by Robert Sanderson, Berkeley, Sep. 29, 2004.
15. Bootstrapping Via Philanthropy Article by Vivien Marx in Chemical & Engineering News Vol. 83, No. 1, pp. 18 Jan. 2005. 
16. Tech Transfer White Paper Authors Hope to Spur Debate, Socially Responsible Licensing Article by Ben Butkus, BioTechTransferWeek March 19, 2007.
17. African Staple Crop Gets a Boost. 
18. Project summary of a PDP (as of 2010), see publication #1 for update.
19. Highlights of UC Berkeley's Socially Responsible Licensing Program.
20. Poster - with selected examples.
21. University of California Licensing Guidelines updated in 2012
22. Offer of a "Public License" to tuberculosis patents from UC Berkeley, based on a Creative Commons license initiative (administered by GreenXChange).  
23. Launch of antimalarial drug a triumph for UC Berkeley, Synthetic Biology

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