UAEM - Licensing and patenting practices of COVID-19 technologies

The request was successful.

Dear Cardiff University,

For the purpose of clarity, please adhere to the following definitions when answering these questions:
Definitions
Low and middle income country: A country that is defined as ‘low’, ‘lower-middle’ and ‘upper-middle’ income by the World Bank for the year 2018. Income status defined by GNI per capita.
Source: World bank, available online [https://tinyurl.com/y5dwc2qv]
A patent grants an inventor the exclusive rights to his or her invention. A patent holder can stop other people from selling, manufacturing, producing, or using the invention for a certain period of time.
Source: Upcouncil, available online [https://www.upcounsel.com/what-is-a-pate...
Licence: Permission for the licensee to use the intellectual property rights
Source: TaylorWessing, available online [https://www.taylorwessing.com/download/a...
Exclusive Licence: A licence that allows only the named licensee to exploit the relevant IP rights, the licensor is also excluded from exploiting these IP rights.
Non-Exclusive Licence: A licence that grants any number of licensees to exploit the IP.
Source: TaylorWessing, available online [https://www.taylorwessing.com/synapse/co...
Health Technology: ‘Health technology as defined by the WHO: “A health technology is the application of organized knowledge and skills in the form of devices, medicines, vaccines, procedures and systems developed to solve a health problem and improve quality of lives.’
Source: WHO, available online [https://www.who.int/health-technology-as...
START FOI request:
Q1. Can you release your internal strategy regarding licensing and patenting of COVID-19 related health technologies?
Q2. Does the institution have a formal policy on licensing and patenting of COVID-19 related technologies? If yes, please provide a link or PDF to the relevant policy document.
Q3. Has the university considered updating their strategy regarding the licensing and patenting of health technologies since the start of the pandemic?
Q4. Please provide an Excel spreadsheet with headings as displayed below with all the COVID-19 related health technologies LICENSED by the university AND specify which countries they were licensed in AND specify whether they are exclusive or non-exclusive licenses.
Health Technology Licensed | Country of Licensing | Type of License (Exclusive or Non-Exclusive)
Q5. Please provide a list of patents granted to your organization for any COVID-19 related health technologies listed by patent family, indicating countries/regions in which the patent has been granted.

Q6. Does the institution have any plans on signing up to the Open-COVID pledge (https://opencovidpledge.org/) or any similar initiative that seeks to minimise intellectual property rights barriers during the COVID-19 pandemic? If yes, please specify.

Q7. Is the institution considering the licensing of COVID-19 related health technologies to the Covid Technology Access Pool (C-TAP) or the Medicines Patent Pool (MPP) during the pandemic? If yes, please specify.

END FOI request.
If you have any questions please do not hesitate to contact me by email.

Yours faithfully,
Shayan Fassih

InfoRequest, Cardiff University

Dear Greg,

I acknowledge receipt of your email dated 24th October 2020.

Your request will now be dealt with under the Freedom of Information Act 2000 and has been allocated reference FOI20-381 which should be quoted in all correspondence. We will respond to your request within 20 working days starting the next working day after receipt, therefore you can expect to receive a response no later than 23rd November 2020.

Please note that in order to fulfil your request we need to liaise with other teams across the University. Due to the current Coronavirus pandemic most staff are now working remotely, and it is likely that there will be a delay in responding to your request. Staff may not be able to assist as they may need to prioritise other work, cover for colleagues who are ill or be away from work themselves due to illness. However, we will do our best to meet this deadline and keep you informed should we be unable to do so.

In some circumstances a fee may be payable and, if that is the case, we will let you know. A fees notice will be issued to you, and you will be required to pay before we will proceed to deal with your request.

Kind regards,

University Secretary’s Office
 
Swyddfa Ysgrifenydd y Brifysgol
Cardiff University
 
Prifysgol Caerdydd
Friary House
 
Friary House
Greyfriars Road
Cardiff
 
Heol y Brodyr Llwydion
Caerdydd
CF10 3AE
 
CF10 3AE
 
 
 
E-mail: [email address]
 
We welcome correspondence in Welsh or English. Corresponding in Welsh will not lead to any delay.
 
E-bost: [email address]
 
Rydym yn croesawu gohebiaeth trwy’r Gymraeg neu’r Saesneg. Ni fydd gohebu yn Gymraeg yn creu unrhyw oedi.

show quoted sections

InfoRequest, Cardiff University

Dear Shayan

 

I am writing in response to your Freedom of Information request dated
24/10/20.

 

For ease of reference, I have reproduced your questions below and set out
our corresponding responses.

 

 

Q1. Can you release your internal strategy regarding licensing and
patenting of COVID-19 related health technologies?

We do not have a specific strategy relating to the licensing and patenting
of COVID-19 related health technologies.

 

Q2. Does the institution have a formal policy on licensing and patenting
of COVID-19 related technologies?  If yes, please provide a link or PDF to
the relevant policy document.

We do not have a specific policy relating to the licensing and patenting
of COVID-19 related health technologies.

 

Q3. Has the university considered updating their strategy regarding the
licensing and patenting of health technologies since the start of the
pandemic?

The University’s IP policy is due to be reviewed in 2021 to include
guidelines for Responsible Innovation. The strategy regarding the
licensing and patenting of health technologies since the start of the
pandemic has not been considered but will be included in the review in
2021.

 

Q4. Please provide an Excel spreadsheet with headings as displayed below
with all the COVID-19 related health technologies LICENSED by the
university AND specify which countries they were licensed in AND specify
whether they are exclusive or non-exclusive licenses.

The University has not licenced any COVID-19 related health technologies.

 

Q5. Please provide a list of patents granted to your organization for any
COVID-19 related health technologies listed by patent family, indicating
countries/regions in which the patent has been granted.

The University does not have any granted patents for any COVID-19 related
health technologies.

 

Q6. Does the institution have any plans on signing up to the Open-COVID
pledge
(https://eur03.safelinks.protection.outlo...)
or any similar initiative that seeks to minimise intellectual property
rights barriers during the COVID-19 pandemic? If yes, please specify.

The University is aware of the Open-Covid pledge.  We do not have any
plans to sign up to it currently but will keep the position under review.
In considering the translation and exploitation of its research findings
the University invariably seeks to maximise any benefits which arise in
terms of public health and improved clinical practice and intervention. 

 

Q7. Is the institution considering the licensing of COVID-19 related
health technologies to the Covid Technology Access Pool (C-TAP) or the
Medicines Patent Pool (MPP) during the pandemic? If yes, please specify.

The University does not have any COVID-19 related health technologies for
licensing currently.  However, the University is undertaking  a variety of
COVID-19 related research projects in order  to support the pandemic with
key research groups re-tasking their research capabilities to address this
issue. We have also run specific internal COVID-19 related funding calls
in order to support the ongoing efforts towards a solution to the
pandemic.

 

I trust this information satisfies your enquiry.  The University has a
Freedom of Information Complaints Procedure should you feel dissatisfied
with this response or the way in which your request was handled.
Complaints must be made in writing and must set out why you believe the
University has not met its obligations under the Freedom of Information
Act.  You may email your complaint to [1][email address] where
it will be forwarded to the Head of Assurance Services who will be
responsible for overseeing the review.

 

If you remain dissatisfied following the outcome of your complaint, you
have the right to apply directly to the Information Commissioner for
consideration.  The Information Commissioner can be contacted at the
following address: Information Commissioner's Office, Wycliffe House,
Water Lane, Wilmslow, Cheshire, SK9 5AF.

 

I would like to take this opportunity to thank you for your interest in
Cardiff University. If you require further assistance please feel free to
contact me.

 

Yours sincerely

 

 

University Secretary’s Office   Swyddfa Ysgrifenydd y Brifysgol
Cardiff University   Prifysgol Caerdydd
Friary House   Friary House
Greyfriars Road   Heol y Brodyr Llwydion

Cardiff Caerdydd
CF10 3AE   CF10 3AE
     
E-mail: [2][email address]   E-bost:
[3][email address]
 
 
We welcome correspondence in Welsh
or English. Corresponding in Welsh Rydym yn croesawu gohebiaeth trwy’r
will not lead to any delay. Gymraeg neu’r Saesneg. Ni fydd
gohebu yn Gymraeg yn creu unrhyw
oedi.

 

 

 

 

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