The government finalizes ‘Improvement Measures for Technology Fee System to Promote R&D Circulation’
The government is taking steps to reduce the burden of technology fees paid to the government for supporting commercialization by private companies participating in national R&D, and to provide more compensation for outstanding research results created by researchers at universities or affiliated research institutions.
The Ministry of Science, ICT and Future Planning finalized and announced the ‘Improvement Measures for Technology Fee System to Promote R&D Circulation’ at an economic ministerial meeting on the morning of the 3rd.
In the past, to secure insufficient R&D funds and maintain the circulation structure of research and development, the government has been operating a system where companies that generate profits from research and development achievements created with government support are required to pay a portion of the profits to the government as ‘government-paid technology fees.’
However, there have been many opinions in research fields including companies that the current government-paid technology fees are still burdensome. Through continuous discussions with relevant ministries, the government plans to lower the payment standard to half the current level to ensure that companies can secure funds to invest in new technology development.
The current payment ratios compared to profits are 5%, 10%, and 20% for small, medium, and large companies, respectively, and the proposal is to lower them to 2.5%, 5%, and 10% respectively.
For university and affiliated researchers who perform innovative R&D and succeed in commercializing outstanding research results, the usage rate of technology fees for researchers will be raised from the current 50% or more to 60% or more.
Excellent small and medium-sized enterprises with outstanding government-paid technology fee payment records will be provided with incentives such as additional evaluation points when selecting other research and development projects. It is expected that increasing the willingness to pay government-paid technology fees diligently for enterprises and actively involving enterprises with outstanding performance in national research and development projects will lead to further re-creation of achievements.
Minister of Science and ICT Jong-Ho Lee stated, “This year, we plan to revise the Enforcement Decree of the Research and Development Innovation Act, and based on these innovations, the circulation structure of R&D will be established.” He also said, “We will continue to listen to the opinions of the research field and improve the management and utilization system of research and development achievements to lead the innovation of the research and development ecosystem.”