This statement sets out UK Research and Innovation’s (UKRI) high-level expectations around the identification, management, and exploitation of knowledge assets including intellectual property (IP). The overall objective is to drive greater economic and societal impacts from the outcomes generated through our significant investments in research and innovation (R&I) for the UK, aligned with UKRI’s responsibilities and principles in Managing Public Money.
UKRI’s strategic approach to IP
To deliver our mission, to advance knowledge, improve lives and drive growth, we have responsibility to maximise economic, social, and cultural benefits to the UK from IP arising through our investments.
Our commitment
Effectively unlocking the value of IP generated from our investments, and by the UK’s excellent R&I ecosystem more generally, will create real-world benefits for the UK. UKRI recognises that this requires a system-wide approach. To achieve this, we will provide targeted investments across translational research, skills development, research commercialisation and business to unlock the full potential of IP arising from the UK’s R&I ecosystem.
Our expectations of recipients of UKRI investments
There is considerable good practice across UK’s research organisations and businesses in delivering impact from research and innovation investment. To maximise impact from UKRI’s investments, we expect everyone receiving our funding to use every endeavour to implement robust, transparent, and high-quality IP and commercialisation practices. This should include:
- adopting recognised best practices for managing and exploiting IP, including higher education providers utilising the University Spin-out Investment Terms (USIT) Guide and USIT for Software, KE concordat and the ‘deal readiness toolkit’ to ensure that IP generated with support of UKRI investment is identified, recorded and catalogued, and protected where appropriate to enable future development or commercialisation
- developing, supporting and embedding IP management and research commercialisation skills
- recognising, empowering and rewarding those who undertake and support activities to manage and exploit IP, including within businesses, academic staff and other higher education provider staff including technical, and university students
- ensuring all appropriate due diligence is undertaken with regards adherence with Trusted Research and Innovation principles and expectations
- ensuring robust systems are in place for any reporting on IP-related activities and outcomes, including demonstrating how the outcomes and impacts from international IP collaborations will meaningfully benefit the UK
- where appropriate, maximising the contribution that IP can make to supporting UK national security and defence, including through dual use
We also expect IP to be exploited through the most effective pathways (including licencing or venture creation) to maximise benefit for the UK, for example by:
- company creation, scaling, and anchoring in the UK
- supporting UK-based business development, growth and scaling
- growing of UK supply chains and innovation ecosystems
- attracting domestic and international investment into the UK
- enhancing UK capabilities, skills and national competitiveness
- ensuring societal and economic benefits are realised across the UK, giving appropriate and sufficient consideration of responsible innovation including social, ethical and environmental implications of potential innovations
- mitigating risks and potential harms where appropriate
Championing open research is also a priority for UKRI and the UK government. Open R&I approaches, including open access publication and FAIR data, can and should be practised alongside appropriate IP management. UKRI will provide guidance to help research organisations to better understand and implement a joined-up approach to IP and open research.
UKRI resources
Research organisations, researchers and innovators should ensure that IP management and exploitation are undertaken within all appropriate and relevant policy, legal and governance frameworks including but not limited to:
- How to commercialise your research
- Research integrity
- Trusted research and innovation
- Research ethics and research governance
- Responsible Innovation
- National Security and Investment Act, and relevant security legislation (GOV.UK)
- Subsidy Control (GOV.UK)
- Intellectual Property Office (GOV.UK)
- British Library Business and IP Centre
- Government Office for Technology Transfer (GOV.UK)
- Open research