The Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry (METI) has launched a project for the securitization of patents owned by companies. This is to facilitate the use of their unused patents. It is said that there are about one million current patents in Japan, but only about one-third of them are now being used. The METI considers that the securitization of the unused company-owned patents would benefit the patent owners, potential users of these patents, and investors.
The basic structure of the securitization comprises:
(1) A special purpose company (SPC), which acts as a center of the network used for the securitization and issues securities to investors.
(2) Corporate patent holders, who agree with the SPC to transfer their patents and in turn receive consideration.
