IP Transfer 3.0 –
New Approaches to IP Transfer
Making IP transfer faster, fairer and more transparent
Working together with innovators from the worlds of politics, research and academia who are eager to experiment, develop strategies and practical tools to facilitate simple, fast and fair IP transfer and make them available to the start-up community.
The successful transfer of research results into the socioeconomic value creation through the creation of spin-offs has thus far been challenging. In most cases, the processes at German universities governing the transfer of Intellectual Property Rights (IPRs) are too complicated and lengthy to meet the needs of start-up teams for swift action and transparent processes. There are no standard solutions (blueprints) for the various transfer scenarios, nor do universities and non-university research institutes have uniform expertise in IP transfer.
As a result, spin-off processes are often marked by uncertainty and even conflict between the start-up teams and technology transfer units within academic institutions. This is because these institutions primarily focus on legally secure processes and contracts, as well as on short and medium-term returns.
It is not uncommon for this to prevent the spin-off altogether or compel the start-up team to submit to conditions with burdensome financial consequences. This can make financing unattractive to venture capitalists and leave the growth potential of possible spin-offs unrealized. Slow and opaque transfer processes can also diminish the developmental edge of the spin-off and adversely affect the motivation of the start-up team.
The IP Transfer 3.0 – New Approaches to IP Transfer
project is a joint pilot program of SPRIND, the Stifterverband and Fraunhofer Institute for Systems and Innovation Research (ISI). The initiative is also supported by niedersachsen.next-Startup. Commencing in 2022 with a pilot group of 17 higher education institutions, non-university research institutes and research associations, the aim is to fundamentally simplify, redesign and speed up the IP transfer process for spin-offs, with a view to ensuring the future success of the new companies.
Together with the pilot group and external experts, the project partners have developed the Transfer 'Pocket Knife'. This toolkit provides both academic institutions and start-up teams with tools to accelerate the IP transfer process at German universities and research institutes in the future, while keeping it transparent and fair.
Transfer Toolkit
The Transfer Toolkit consists of five elements that are used at different stages of the IP transfer process.
Read the IP Transfer Glossary here.
Surveys
As part of the pilot project in 2024 and 2025, a total of three surveys of various stakeholder groups were carried out in order to obtain a nuanced picture of IP transfer from German research institutions:
- Survey of investors on their acceptance of the
virtual shares
model in the transfer of intellectual property rights. - Survey of spin-off companies about their experiences with the transfer of IP from academia.
- Survey of research institutions or their technology transfer units on the transfer of IP to spin-off companies. These detailed, insight-rich analyses are made available to the broader academic community for discussion and use.
- Survey of investors on their acceptance of the
Position Papers
- Position paper at the launch of the 2022 Initiative
- Position paper at the launch of background political discussions at the Federal and State level in 2023
- In a foundational policy document the Federal Agency for Breakthrough Innovation (SPRIND), Stifterverband, Bundesverband Deutsche Startups e. V. Federal German Startups Association, High-Tech Gründerfonds (HTGF) and TransferAllianz summarized recommendations for the national IP strategy anchored in the 2025 Coalition Agreement.
The aim is to make IP transfer faster, simpler and fairer for both sides. For us it’s about creating more transparency and bringing light to the darkness. We encourage institutions to critically examine their own processes and models and experiment with new approaches. At the same time we act as brokers and promote political dialogue in order to bring all stakeholders from the worlds of politics and university management around one table.
Barbara Diehl, Director of the IP Transfer 3.0 Initiative at SPRIND
The Stifterverband is an implementation partner in this pilot project. The Fraunhofer Institute for Systems and Innovation Research (ISI) is responsible for the accompanying monitoring and evaluation. The initiative will also be supported by startup.niedersachen through various event formats.
Click here for more information about the Stifterverband and contact details.
Barbara Diehl (barbara.diehl@sprind.org) is your contact person at SPRIND.
