UNIGE Global Access Principles

These principles have been published on August 12^th, 2015 and are based upon those of the University of British Columbia (UBC)

In order for UNIGE innovations to maximize their societal impact, practical mechanisms and partnering strategies are required that (a) enhance both the economic and societal impact of UNIGE innovations; (b) extend these impacts to broader global settings; and (c) ensure fair access to these innovations for the world's poor within an evolving framework of licensing practices, legal concerns, business opportunity and time constraints.

Broadening the societal impact of and global access to UNIGE innovations requires that these concerns are addressed when new UNIGE innovations are developed, patented and licensed. To this end, UNIGE will:

• Promote global access by entering public/private partnerships to develop new technologies (including medical technologies such as therapeutics, vaccines) to benefit the developing world¹
• Prioritize environmentally friendly research and green alternatives, and take the lead in community sustainability
• Respect biodiversity, ensuring value return to countries of origin
• Endeavour to ensure that under privileged populations have 'at cost' access to UNIGE research innovations through negotiated global access terms whenever appropriate

As the understanding of issues relating to societal licensing evolves, balancing ambitious objectives with legitimate business concerns requires patience, determination, and the willingness to be both pragmatic and flexible. To support our social licensing commitment, UNIGE will, where possible, employ the following strategies:

• Build on the values of access and dissemination as demonstrated in the open source movement in the IT sector
• Promote the use of non-exclusive licensing of research tools (for example, the Uniform Biological Materials Transfer Agreement -UBMTA)
• Consider field-of-use and jurisdictional limitations in exclusive licenses to exclude developing world countries
• Negotiate developing world access 'at cost' to relevant technologies which are licensed on a world-wide exclusive basis (required for technology development)
• Continue to seek partnerships with not-for-profit and charitable organizations to obtain much needed funding for neglected disease areas
• Design patent strategies with our development partners that ensure quality product delivery to those most in need, while promoting sustainable, local infrastructure

Positive societal impacts include improving human and veterinary health, supporting international biodiversity, protection of the environment, and promoting sustainable green alternatives

For more information on how the global principles may apply to specific technologies or general questions related to our strategy, please email unitec(at)unige.ch

¹Developing World: Those countries defined as low income or low middle income by the World Bank