During the mid of the 20th century the character of science dramatically changed, when further progress became more and more only possible due to large scale project with immense budgets. Many big research institutions outside of universities were founded with big budgets, big staffs and big machines, which coined the term “big science”. Today, not only in academic fundamental research, but especially in the development of enabling technologies relevant for practical industrial applications companies join forces in large scale research cooperations. One successful example was the cooperation between Sony and Philips in the development of the CD technology. But when multiple partners cooperate in the development of future technologies, one question always arises: Who owns the IP? The students of the MIPLM address this question in their case study presentations about IMEC.

IMEC is a hub for research in nano and digital technologies located in Leuven, Belgium. The initial vision in 1984 was the further improvement of computer chips, in the spirit of Moore’s Law, which claims that the number of transistors on an integrated circuit doubles every 2nd year. Over the years a whole eco-system with fabless companies, equipment and material suppliers developed around the initial research focus and today more than 5,000 people work in research covering the full value chain.


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The students answered the following questions about the IP management in the cooperation framework run by IMEC:

  • Please describe the concept of the Industrial affiliate programs (IAPs) and the different partners in the nanoelectronics industry with the example of the 3D systems integration IAP
  • Please describe the core IP management principles at IMEC to stimulate collaboration in the IAPs
  • Please describe how the long-term success is ensured with the dual core-dual site orchestration model

 

Group 1: Terita Kalloo, Andrea Foglia, Clement Lim

Cannot open the video? Please click: Did they really? IMEC and IP in cooperations 1 – YouTube

 

Group 2: Nina Šlat, Andreas Werner, Veronique Bolinches, Timofey Rubchenko

Cannot open the video? Please click: Did they really? IMEC and IP in cooperations 2 – YouTube

 

Group 3: Shu Pei Oei, Nora Rüter, Sinara Travisani Cardozo, Branimir Puškarić, Yanan Huang, Merve Şimşek

Cannot open the video? Please click: Did they really? IMEC and IP in cooperations 3 – YouTube