NMRC: Partnership with Industry - Commercial Exploitation

NMRC Develops Business Platform for its Intellectual Property Portfolio

The intellectual property (IP) portfolio of NMRC continues to expand with the filing of eight additional patents in the last year. The Centre is now developing this resource with the twin aims of maximising the transfer of its technology to industry and the generation of license income to fund further research. Currently, the Centre's patents are being promoted to technology brokers and companies in Europe, the US and Japan.

This activity is underpinning a new initiative within the Centre to generate an entrepreneurial spirit for the benefit of the regional and national economy. It is anticipated that this proactive focus will, over the coming years, result in an expansion of the ongoing success of the centre in commercialising its IP portfolio through technology transfer, licensing agreements, joint ventures and new start-up companies.

The following represents a selection of technologies recently added to NMRC’s IP portfolio for which exploitation routes are actively being pursued:-

• Novel Method of Selective Activation and Metallisation of Materials
• Miniature RF Transceiver on Multi-chip Module
• Integrated Magnetic Components in Printed Circuit Boards
• Silicon-based High Sensitivity, Magnetic Field Sensor
• Thermal Imaging using CMOS-compatible Infra-red Sensor Arrays
• Toxic-Metal Sensors for Environmental Analysis of Water

Integrated windings and magnetic layers in printed circuit board may replace would magnetic components in the future

CMOS-compatible infra-red sensor arrays for thermal imaging applications.

Patent Portfolio Management for Industry

The IC design and microelectronic manufacturing community continues to increase its emphasis in both intellectual property protection and capitalisation. NMRC has developed extensive capabilities in the area of "patent portfolio management" which encompasses characterisation and analysis work on intellectual property. Projects at NMRC during 1999 were concerned with DSP and mixed signal products.