StartupHouse: Aussie Entrepreneur in Silicon Valley

While passing through San Francisco on the return trip from the AUTM conference in March, Fiona Cameron, Associate Director Innovation at UWS, had the pleasure of meeting Elias Bizannes at the still- in-development StartupHouse buildings.

Over coffee at a local cafe Elias shared his story with me and his enthusiasm to make a difference in the world through entrepreneurial ventures. Elias is a Sydney boy and has already enjoyed silicon valley success with the StartupBus program. Elias is working tirelessly to set up the bare bones of StartupHouse in San Francisco, and it should be launching soon as the lean mean location to catapult tomorrow’s entrepreneurs into “overnight success” or at least provide guidance to head in the right direction.

Elias’s enthusiasm is catching and he kindly agreed to the short video attached. If you tossing around whether or not to start out with your big idea, have a look at the video and it should excite you to get out and do it! Follow the link to NSW Government and you might even be eligible for some support. http://www.business.nsw.gov.au/assistance-and-support/grants/business/startuphouse

UWS Innovation is keen to support innovation and
entrepreneurship at UWS ip@uws.edu.au.

Gene patenting controversy reaches the Australian Federal Court

A controversial patent over a common genetic mutation is accused of being tantamount to privatisation of the human body. This is the argument being put forward by lawyers representing patient advocacy group Cancer Voices who, for the first time in Australia, are asking the Federal Court to decide if patents granted over segments of DNA are valid.

The US biotech company Myriad Genetics and the exclusive Australian licensee, Genetic Technologies, have a monopoly right to control the use of the BRCA1 mutation sequence (linked to breast cancer) for commercial R&D as well as diagnostic testing. It was granted on the basis that the process of isolating the gene from the human body in a laboratory constituted an "invention". It is worth noting that patenting gives no rights to genes inside the human body.

However, Cancer Voices claim that the key characteristic of the gene mutation relevant to the test – its ability to code for particular proteins – is identical inside the body and out, and should thus not be patentable. The spark for this case being brought before the courts began when the licensee sought to assert its patent rights over a number of public laboratories who were effectively performing the patented breast cancer diagnostic test “in-house” and without paying for a license.

Early last year, UWS Innovation prepared a submission to the Senate Inquiry on behalf of the S7 group of Universities, as did many other research bodies, arguing against a private members bill seeking to restrict the patenting of genes and other biological material. We argued then, and still believe, that restricting the ability to patent biological materials, including isolated genes, would have far-reaching and unintended consequences across the biotechnology industry, impacting on the development and ultimately the generation of diagnostics, novel therapies, tests, vaccines and drug delivery platforms while not solving the issue at hand.

UWS researchers who have questions on how this could affect their research should contact UWSI on ip@uws.edu.au

America Invents Act gains tentative support

Researchers and inventors with an aim to file their patent in the US should keep an an eye on developments associated with the recently passed America Invents Act. Signed into law in 2011, the act switches the US patent system from a “first to invent” to a “first inventor to file” system, and this brings the US market into better harmony with the patent laws of other countries, most of which, like Australia, operate on the “first-to-file” system.

An interesting read is a report submitted to Congress by the United States Patent Office (USPTO) supporting the prior user rights defense in light of the first-inventor-to-file system. Under the new Act, prior user rights are granted to those who use an invention as part of a manufacturing or other commercial activity more than one year before an invention is first publicly disclosed or applied. This provision was added to counter concerns that the move to a first-inventor-to-file system eliminated the ability for prior users to defend themselves if they had been using an invention prior to it being officially filed as a patent. This resulted in claims that prior user rights stifled innovation.

Overall, the USPTO appears to be in support of the new legislation, and will defer further opinion until 2015 when the effect may be better assessed.

UWS inventors with any questions regarding intellectual property should contact UWS Innovation on 02 9685 9742 or at r.burnside@uws.edu.au

UWS Innovation's partners rewarded at awards ceremony

Image: Barry Westlake, Entrepreneur in Residence, ATP-Innovations

The UWS Partnership Awards recognise partnerships between the University, external organisations and individuals. UWS Innovation is proud to announce that awards were handed out to three particularly outstanding collaborators of ours at a ceremony held in December 2011.
Thermo Fisher Scientific – for collaboration in the field of separation science. In 2011, an agreement was executed between UWS and ThermoFisher Scientific, which formalised a long-term research collaboration with UWS and will facilitate taking our most promising inventions to market.

ATP Innovations – for their ongoing support of the UWS commercialisation push and of our students through an open and dynamic engagement between the two organisations, fostering technology advancement and commercialisation opportunities.

Enterprise Connect – UWS Innovation’s engagement with the Federal Government’s Enterprise Connect allows us to better understand the needs of industry in order to ensure that UWS research and expertise ultimately reaches and benefits the public. Enterprise Connect has provided us access to a network of contacts and opportunities.

We look forward to working with all our partners throughout the year and believe that 2012 will be even more successful than the last. If you are interested in partnering with UWS through licensing opportunities or other commercial or research collaborations, please contact Rob Burnside on ip@uws.edu.au.

Invention Workshop allows UWS researchers and students opportunity to pitch their ideas

UWS Innovation and Intellectual ventures (IV) jointly hosted an Invention Workshop for a select group of UWS researchers and honours students, where attendees were able to pitch their research and ideas to a small group of technology investors for feedback.

In addition to Dr Scott Needham from IV Australia, a special guest on the panel was Dr James Wang, Director of Invention Development at IV China. James is responsible for the Physical Science Group, and before joining IV was founder of several start-ups in Silicon Valley and Shanghai. Prior to that, James was a senior scientist and manager at Pfizer, working on biomaterials and medical device development.

With billions of dollars under management, IV are specialists at assessing and investing in some of the world’s most promising and cutting edge inventions.

Honours students Chris Godfrey, Simon McElduff and Linren Zhou presented their idea for the development of a novel two-way-shape memory polymer matrix, while Dr Grace Yan from Civionics/School of Engineering pitched her idea on wireless structural monitoring.
James and Scott provided invaluable feedback in regard to material selections, developing a business case, and attracting investors and collaborators.

The workshop was a great success and confirms UWS’s growing capability in developing innovative ideas.

Senate rejects Patent Amendment Bill

A controversial private members Bill entitled "Patent Amendment (Human Genes and Biological Materials) Bill 2010" was introduced into parliament in November 2010 with the intent to restrict the patenting of genes and related biological material. UWS made a submission opposing the bill as a member of the S7 group of Sydney Universities.

On 21 September 2011, after more than one hundred written submissions and two days of public hearings, the Senate Legal and Constitutional Affairs Legislation Committee has recommended that the Senate should NOT pass the Bill.

In arriving at its recommendation, the Committee considered a number of key issues. An example of these issues and the findings included:

• The distinction between discovery and invention - The Committee noted that although the Bill sought to clarify the distinction between discovery and invention, the amendments proposed would not assist to clarify that distinction and may make the distinction more obscure.


• Impact on treatments, methods and healthcare - The Committee indicated in their Report that there was no evidence that patents were adversely impacting on the provision of healthcare in Australia.


• Freedom to research - It was disagreed that the Bill would provide certainty for scientists conducting research on biological material and concluded that the amendments in the "Raising the Bar" Bill regarding a research exemption would provide greater certainty for researchers.


• Impact on investment - It was agreed that without certainty in relation to patent protection for biological materials, companies would have less incentive to develop and commercialise new products for the Australian market or, alternatively, a greater incentive not to publicly disclose inventions.

The Committee agreed that that although the Bill was "well intentioned" it did not represent an effective solution to any potential or perceived problems that may be caused by the patenting of biological material. It is evident that the debate is not yet complete with the Bill now likely to be brought back to the Senate, with the amendments proposed in the dissenting report. The issue now will be whether such an amended version of the Bill would be able to get sufficient support for it to pass the Senate.

Successful Innovation Workshop 2011

Image: UWS students alongside Hamish Hawthorn (third from right) and Andrew Stead (second from left) of ATP Innovations.











This year UWS again selected some top postgraduate research students to attend the Successful Innovation Workshop conducted by ATP Innovations at the Australian technology Park.

UWS encourages both academics and students to be inventive and entrepreneurial through its IP Policy and regular contact with the Innovation & Consulting arm.

The Successful Innovation Workshop, otherwise known as the commercialisation bootcamp should provide attending students with useful real life skills to consider aspects of their research in a different light.

“In this 2 day workshop you will explore ways to commercialise your research through practical case studies, workshops and networking.

At the end of this program, you will have a greater understanding of what is involved in successful commercialisation. Speakers will help you understand how to prepare yourself, what questions to ask and how to develop wealth from your research”

Academics and students of UWS interested in protecting the IP in their research should contact the Innovation & Consulting team at ip@uws.edu.au