Trends in and factors influencing PCT applications by Japanese universities

To promote the creation of innovations, it is imperative that new technologies by universities are patented and transferred to private companies. This study aims to reveal the trends in and factors influencing PCT applications by Japanese universities. Data on 4,158 applications for 2008-2012 were collected from the J-PlatPat database and those for university performance, research activities, and industry-academia collaboration were compiled from documents of universities and the Japanese government. The results revealed that PCT applications are mainly filed in the engineering and medicine fields, of which 45.4% are joint applications with private companies. In addition, we perform a multiple regression analysis to obtain the number of PCT applications per professor using five explanatory variable (R² = 70.7%). The results elucidated that PCT applications were influenced by industry-academia collaboration and faculty structure. In conclusion, it is conceivable that PCT applications by Japanese universities have the potentialities for technology transfers from universities to private companies.