日本の産学連携と大学発ベンチャー創出―現状と制度

University Industry Cooperation in Japan – Current Status and Legal System

In this paper, current status and legal framework of"University Industry Cooperation", especially startups development from university in Japan is described. University-industry technology transfer, business that deals with the transfer of university-held technology to industry, has been started by US universities after the Bayh Dole Act (1980) which is often considered as a landmark in university patenting. In Japan, it was in 1998 that the"Law to Promote the Transferring of Technology from Universities and Others" (Technology Transfer Promotion Law) was first enacted, and thereupon, many technology transfer institutions were established to market the university technologies based on their demand and supply. Also in 2004, Japanese national universities have been incorporated and obtained independent legal status. Therefore, current system of Japanese university industry cooperation is based on deals by their organizational managements. As for startups from university, Hiranuma Plan (2000) has been launched to aim to encourage university reform and the creation of"1,000 venture firms, originating in Universities" through a strategy of transferring technology from academia to industry. In fact, the numbers of startups since this plan are impressive and generated more than 1800 venture startups. In this paper, such status of current collaboration activities and the relevant legal framework will be shown in order to understand the comprehensive legal system to encourage university industry cooperation from the viewpoint of innovation strategy.