THE GEMS, INC. STORY
Wastes from the mango processing industry constitute less than 10 % of Cebu’ s solid wastes. Out of more than a thousand tons of wastes that Cebu generates daily, over 100 tons come from the mango processors. The treatment method developed by BioPERC of converting mango by-products( avoiding the term‘ waste’ that only connotes unsanitary raw materials) is, in itself, innovative, that warrants patent protection. The process technology that results to a range of high value products, has found a great opportunity for licensing the technology to a second party. Thus, created a start-up, joint venture, company called GEMS or Green Enviro Management Systems, Inc. that has an exclusive license to use the process and produce products for various applications – in food, pharmaceutical, personal care, and energy industry. Aside from patents, the IP portfolio will hopefully expand to trademark, copyright, trade secret and know-how, which, when fully realized, could mean a significant revenue stream for the university, the inventor and the inventor’ s department, as provided for in the university’ s IP Policy’ s royalty sharing scheme. Never before imagined to occur in a local university, IP commercialization is now becoming a reality and is probably the best thing that has ever happened to an academic institution that rely mainly to income from tuition fees. So far, taking great interest in the products that come from a nonconventional source are some of Philippines’ big names in the food, pharmaceutical and personal care business. Closing a deal with these companies would be a dream-come-true to realize the benefits of IP in terms of revenue generation.
Philippine jurisdiction will put the university into a better position of commercializing its technology. GEMS, Inc. uses the patent as its leverage of keeping others from using the invention without license from the patent owner. As a joint venture, the patent is USC’ s equity to the company, the partner investing for the capital expenditures needed for the manufacturing facility. The company could sell the products under a non-exclusive sub-licensing agreement. Given these arrangements of licensing and sub-licensing agreements, the university and its partner hope to expand the operation to jurisdictions where there is a potential for the business to treat mango wastes. In the case of sanitary wastes, licensing agreement for the use of the process technology, whose patent is pending at IPOPHL, is also another opportunity for USC to embark into another licensing agreement. A‘ green’ company whose core business is providing services in solid waste management for local government units has entered into a memorandum of agreement with BioPERC to bring another patentpending technology to useful application – one that addresses local problems.
It takes these two examples of how patents can be used as a tool in business before the USC community has taken notice of the potential of IP in the university’ s revenue generation. These are models that USC can claim success and use to change the mindset especially in science and technology fields that, indeed, there is economic value in doing research in the university with the challenge of having more of this kind of success stories emerging from the university’ s other departments with R & D units.
PATENTS AS THE CORE OF BUSINESS
Although still pending, the patent portfolio that aims to protect the new technology for 20 years under
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