AusBiotech welcomes the release of the Department of Education's voluntary Higher Education Research Commercialisation (HERC) Intellectual Property (IP) Framework to facilitate partnerships between universities and industry partners.
The Framework is recommended for universities and businesses to work together to develop new technologies and/or solve research problems, access technical services and equipment from a university, and for a business to license and buy IP from a university for internal or commercial use.
The Framework includes a voluntary set of standardised agreements, as well as education and guidance materials to assist users in navigating the research commercialisation process. The Department's aim is that this Framework will enable future and ongoing industry and university collaboration and more research commercialisation opportunities will arise.
As part of the Department's University Research Commercialisation Action Plan developed in 2021, AusBiotech supported a joint submission in collaboration with industry partners, including Research Australia, Medicines Australia and MTAA to contribute to the development of the Framework.
In its joint submission, the peak industry bodies that represent a significant proportion of the health R&D sector proposed that rather than making the Framework mandatory, it should be made available without restriction for all entities to use when its released.
The development of this Framework was informed by the Department of Education's HERC IP Working Group and feedback from universities, industry, and government representatives across Australia.
