Innovation: Montpellier has ideas... and patents!
In early March, theINPI, the public body responsible for registering and issuing industrial property titles, published its traditional ranking of the top 50 patent applicants for 2022*. The good news is that the University of Montpellier has entered the list at number 49, ranking among the top 10 higher education institutions in France with the most patents filed (21). Interview with Philippe Combette, Vice President for Innovation and Partnerships at the University of Montpellier.
This 2022 ranking ranking marks the entry of the University of Montpellier in 49th place in terms of the number of patents published, including both private companies and state organizations. Can we say that this distinction is an indicator of innovation?
The University of Montpellier has entered the top 50 for the first time ever. We are even in the top 10 French universities. Montpellier is home to a large number of research organizations, with nearly 5,000 researchers... But no large corporations are present in the region. What was long considered a disadvantage, i.e., research lacking industrial applications, has given us great agility and an appetite for disruptive innovation.
What is the point of filing a patent for a higher education institution?higher education institution?
Some people believe that patenting is unnecessary. Why? Researchers' daily work involves open science, making their discoveries available to a community, and producing knowledge. This is not the same philosophy as a patent, which serves to protect, negotiate, and capture financial resources.
So a patent is not an end in itself?
In my opinion, innovation is an idea that has found a market. With the notion of exploiting academic research or industrial research with a view to selling an object, software, or technology transfer used in the production of... We are talking here about concrete and monetizable things. It is one thing to write patents, but it is quite another for those patents to lead to operating licenses. Without an operating license, a patent is useless, except to protect an idea. An idea may be attractive on paper but never be commercially viable. For example, a concept turned into an object may be so complicated to manufacture that it will never be profitable from a financial point of view.
How does the patent application process work?
When a researcher or Professor an idea that they think would be worth patenting, they file a declaration of invention (DI) with the Department of Innovation and Partnerships (DIPA) at the University of Montpellier. Our direct contact for transforming the declaration of invention into a patent is Satt AxLR (technology transfer and acceleration company), which decides whether or not to transform the idea into a patent. This can also be done through other technology transfer organizations such as CNRS Innovation, Inserm Transfer, or Inrae Transfer, or any other commercialization structure. In all cases, the aim is to bring a patent to commercial exploitation, either through the creation of a company or through technology transfer. Or both.
How much does a patent earn on average?
It depends greatly on the community concerned. For example, in chemistry: all it takes is a molecule, a formula, a formulation, and it's patented. Let's say that this patent is associated with the manufacture of a drug, for example for diabetes. The operating license can bring in a lot of money, sometimes millions of euros. But out of a hundred patents filed, only two or three will make money. In the technology or microtechnology sector, a patent license brings in only a few thousand euros. But on the other hand, there will be more of them. What is important is the combination of patent and license. Licenses determine the amount of revenue that will be generated for the university, the research organization, the laboratory, and of course the researcher.
In this context, what is the University of Montpellier's strategy for innovation?
This ranking shows that there is momentum building that we need to push forward and accelerate. To this end, the University has implemented a number of tools, in particular to train and acculturate all university staff through capacity building. This also involves welcoming companies into the laboratories through the "Companies on Campus" program. This is something that countries such as Japan, the USA, Germany, and Switzerland have been doing for years. As there are few industries in the Montpellier area, the aim is to attract industrial talent to come and set up in a laboratory, initially, with extremely attractive financial and intellectual conditions. We are in a virtuous circle. It improves competitiveness while generating employment opportunities for our students (see also: "Innovation cannot exist without trust").
In 2021, the UM was selected to become a university innovation hub (PUI). How does this PUI contribute to this dynamic?
Montpellier's unique feature is the presence of many research organizations on campus. Our governance, and therefore our collective operating mode, was already active through Muse; all we had to do was adapt it to the innovation aspect. All the actions I mentioned earlier are PUI actions. The three pillars of the Muse i-site, "heal, nourish, protect," are now at the heart of Montpellier Métropole's flagship project: Medvallée. We have just received the first Frenchtech grant from BPI France for a project originating from the PUI, the company Terratis to combat the tiger mosquito, because everyone worked together to ensure that an idea that came out of a laboratory led to the creation of a company that already has huge markets. The PUI is there to implement and coordinate, but above all it is a collective. That is why I am not yet satisfied with this ranking, which I believe is incomplete. We need to push forward, there is tremendous potential in Montpellier. The university innovation hub will encourage us to do so.
The university is an educational institution: are young people the driving force behind innovation?
I have noticed that students are increasingly interested in entrepreneurship; they want to find meaning in what they do. But on the academic side, there are still obstacles when it comes to recognizing commercialization and applied research activities. The average age of those who file patents is around 40-45, or even 50. Why? Because they first have to build a career in academia and publish in order to be recognized for their scientific output. But things are changing, the curves are shifting, and we are seeing a change in attitudes. We are placing a lot of emphasis on young people, particularly through student-entrepreneur projects. In Montpellier, we also have an innovation booster (BIM), funded by the PUI, which enables us to support projects by students, researchers, and employees. It is by bringing together young people, the academic world, and the socio-economic world that we will increase our number of patents and the number of startups we create. All while helping students give meaning to their studies.
INPI: "A strengthened position for public research"
In November 2021, the University of Montpellier was selected as one of five pilot sites in France to develop a university innovation hub (PUI) in its region. This government strategy aims to promote the economic and social benefits of research by encouraging the development of innovative ecosystems. The INPI believes that this ranking makes it easier to identify organizations, both private and public, that invest in innovation. It notes "the strengthened position of public research." However, it should be noted that the 2022 edition is strongly influenced by the Covid-19 crisis, as it takes into account patent applications filed between July 1, 2020, and June 30, 2021. During this period, the University of Montpellier filed 21 patents.