**2.1 Cardiac support net with patient-specific design**

In 2005, I read a newspaper article introducing a computer-controlled three-dimensional (3D) knitting machine (Shimaseiki Co. Ltd., Wakayama, Japan). This machine can produce 3D knitted product without sewing "WHOLEGARMENT". I came up with an idea that if we prefabricate patient-specific cardiac support net with this computer-controlled 3D knitting machine using the patient's heart images, then we do not need to adjust the net size (**Figure 1**. right panel). It will eliminate the surgeon's arbitrary adjustment and shorten the operation time.


**Environmental Energy Sustainability at Universities**

Printed Edition of the Special Issue Published in *Sustainability* Alberto Jesús Perea Moreno and Francisco G. Montoya Edited by

www.mdpi.com/journal/sustainability


**3. Discussion**

In this three-armed crossover study, we investigated the miRNA profiles in young, healthy athletes before and after various resistance training interventions (HI and LI). In addition, we employed peripheral blood flow restriction (LI-BFR) that was achieved by applying an external cuff during the resistance training at LI. We assumed that BFR can mimic the occlusion of a larger artery, leading to an increased collateral flow, and would therefore serve as an external stimulus of arteriogenesis.

The BFR application led to a decreased blood flow velocity in the popliteal artery, confirming our first hypothesis. The HI intervention showed the largest effects on lactate, and all interventions led to a comparable heart rate response. The LI intervention resulted in the smallest pre to post differences. Hypothesis 2 was thus partially verified (depending on the outcome). Our results further suggest that miRNA profiles were acutely affected by HI training and LI-BFR training but not by LI training alone. In particular, miR-143-3p expression correlated with training intensity, which verifies Hypothesis 3.

The fact that BFR application led to a decrease in the blood flow velocity (Hypothesis 1) confirms the validity of BFR. The reduction of 7.6 cm/s is far beyond the standard error of measurement found in inter-rater reliability analyses [35] and can thus be considered as clinically relevant. The mean blood flow velocity in the popliteal artery in PAD patients was recently found to be 41 ± 17 (SD) cm/s [36], which is considerably lower than the velocity we found in the no-cuff condition and is comparable to the one we found in the blood flow-restricted condition. Consequently, one may consider our model valid in terms of blood flow restriction and velocity, although the study population does not fully mimic the PAD caused by atherosclerosis.

All interventions induced increases in lactate and heart rate; the largest effects on lactate occurred after the HI intervention, whereas all interventions led to a comparable heart rate response. The LI intervention resulted in the smallest differences in pre- and post-intervention values in objective and participant-reported outcomes. The finding of a BFR-induced increase in lactate concentration is in accordance with previous reports [23]. The metabolic response thus varies with varying training intensity. If BFR training effects comparable to those of 70% 1RM sessions without BFR are to be reached, the current literature recommends BFR training at 30% of the individual 1RM [18]. Though we followed this recommendation, BFR elicited lower values/effects in some of the outcomes than during/after HI training; this is in contrast to our second hypothesis, which was only partially verified. One possible reason may be due to our sample. The majority of current studies adopting BFR training or interventions at 30% of the 1RM refer to an elderly or untrained population [18]. For a trained study population, a minority of studies in the literature suggest that 50% of the 1RM should be used to achieve a sufficient metabolic response [24].

We further analyzed the profiles of circulating miRNAs before and after resistance training. Our results of the quantification in each intervention group suggest that the profile of circulating miRNAs is altered as an acute effect of resistance training. In particular, we identified six miRNAs (miR-139-5p, miR-143-3p, miR-195-5p, miR-197-3p, miR-30a-5p, and miR-10b-5p) that are up-regulated after HI training. Only miR-143 was found to be down-regulated after LI-BFR training. The LI training, in contrast, had no systematic effect of either miRNA. Other studies also demonstrated both acute effects of intensive stimuli (miRNA-21, miRNA-146a, miRNA-221, and miRNA-222) and training effects (miRNA-146a, miRNA-222, and miRNA-20a) [37]. Consequently, we conclude that increased training intensity leads to increased miR-143-3p. The correlation of the lactate difference (BFR-LI, LI, and HI) and miR-143-3p abundance further indicates a decisive role depending on training intensity. In detail, 3.5 mmol/L of pre-to-post lactate difference was determined as a potential threshold from miR-143-3p down-regulation to its up-regulation. Consequently, a major share, but not only the lactate concentration (or the intensity of the training), is decisive for miRNA expression—as is (to a minor share) the type of training. More concretely, BFR seems not only to lead to lower lactate increases but also tendentiously leads to a down-regulation of miRNA-143-3p, whereas LI seems to be able to increase lactate concentration but does not affect miRNA-143-3p expression. The HI, in contrast, seemed to be able to both up-regulate lactate and miRNA-143-3p. Whether the differences between the conditions are due to the lower intensity or the type of training may be finally delineated by using the intensity increase up to 50% during BFR, as described above.

We have previously shown an association of miR-195-5p and miR-143-3p with collateral growth [38]. Both of these species were found to be highly up-regulated in the vascular tissue itself, and miR-143-3p was identified as an essential factor for proper collateral formation following femoral artery ligation in mice. The acute and local blockade of miR-143-3p in these mice completely abrogated arteriogenesis. In blood vessels, miR-143 is one of the most-studied miRNAs expressed by vascular smooth muscle cells, and, together with miR-145, this miRNA is thought to play a pivotal role in smooth muscle cell differentiation and vascular disease [8,13,39]. Furthermore, circulating miR-143-3p has been associated with cardiovascular disease [40] and is considered to be a predictor of aging and the acute adaptive response to resistance exercise [41].

Small volumes of capillary blood are routinely used for lactate diagnostics. We aimed to establish this routinely used, less invasive method of fingertip blood drawing for obtaining cell-free, non-hemolytic plasma samples suitable for the isolation and quantification of circulating miRNAs. Indeed, this method was successful in yielding plasma samples reproducible in quality and volume. All miRNAs identified, with the exception of miR-10b-5p, were validated in terms of independency of hemolytic score. For miRNA profiling, we included plasma samples of four participants with an OD414 < 0.3 and an increased lactate concentration after training intervention, a maximal heart rate during training of at least 60% of maximal calculated heart rate, and a participant-reported "very hard" intensity on the Borg scale of at least 16 points (data not shown).

Our results are in line with the proposed epigenetic potential of lifestyle interventions that may alter gene expression [42,43]. Therefore, we postulate that in order to maximize the beneficial role of miR-143-3p in collateral growth, training intensity will have to be adjusted. For symptomatic PAD patients, controlled training is an efficient, conservative therapy that is a good alternative to invasive therapies. The formation of collaterals and compensatory blood flow is the goal of conservative treatment. However, since the success of training varies, responders and non-responders must be identified. Thus, future studies are needed to (1) confirm our findings in PAD patients, (2) delineate the mechanisms of how miRNA-143-3p may be decisive in response or non-response to resistance training, and (3) determine how a pre-intervention screening of miRNA-143-3p or other microRNAs can be used to stratify responders and non-responders for the individualization of intervention/training goals.

### **4. Materials and Methods**

### *4.1. Ethical Standard and Study Design*

The study had a randomized-balanced crossover design. Ethical approval was obtained from the local institutional review board (protocol number 2018-16, 17.06.2018, Ethics Committee Department 5 Psychology and Sports Sciences Goethe-University Frankfurt). The trial was conducted in accordance with the ethical standards set down by the declaration of Helsinki (World medical Association) Declaration of Helsinki–Ethical Principles for Medical Research Involving Human Subjects) with its recent modification of 2013 (Fortaleza). All participants gave written informed consent prior to study enrollment.


**1. Introduction**

Today, technological advances have favored a better understanding of the circumstances around natural phenomena, being necessary to explain, in order to comprehend the dynamic nature of the climate, all the interrelations of the atmosphere, and the terrestrial surface at determinate time and space. Nicholson [1] described that seasonal time scales define the dynamic predictability, which is explained by atmospheric fluctuations defined by internal and boundary forcing. For the internal forcing, short and medium scales are associated with mechanisms as flow instabilities, non-linear interactions, thermal and orographic forces, fluctuating zonal winds and tropical/ extratropical interactions. Whereas boundary forcing could be associated to a lower boundary condition for heat and moisture fluxes related to external factors such as soil moisture, vegetation, sea-surface temperature, among others, this is also for example, soil moisture feedback on precipitation or quantifying the scales of heterogeneity in surface vegetation and soil, and their dependency with other variables as the leaf area distribution, topographical, and meteorological properties. Thus, in order to understand the different interaction process in the hydrological cycle, it will be necessary to establish the behaviour of parameters such as soil moisture at different levels of aggregation [2, 3]. For instance, on a global scale, soil moisture is important because it maintains a series of interactions with the climatic and terrestrial systems, by serving as a source of water for the atmosphere through evapotranspiration and about 60% of the amount of atmospheric water is returned to the Earth's surface in the form of precipitation [4]. As a regulator of the climate, soil moisture is linked to mass and energy cycles, affecting climatic components such as air temperature and precipitation, whose movements and disturbances presented in the atmosphere at different scales interact with the Earth surface generating heat exchange and, in consequence, supporting the stability of the air near the Earth's surface and its temperature [5]. At the basin scale, the soil moisture content is determined by the soil type and topographic configuration, and influences the partition of precipitation into infiltration and runoff and, therefore, exerts direct control over soil erosion and flooding. At the local scale, local patterns of infiltration and water flow in the soil could affect the surface water quality and groundwater [6]. This means, soil moisture is a variable that directly influences parameters such as precipitation, runoff, evapotranspiration, and infiltration since they depend on the water stored in the soil how defines the degree of modification of the water cycle parameters [5]. Under these terms, soil moisture can be understood as a relevant indicator of the alteration suffered by the climate of a given region due to the interactions with soil, vegetation and the atmosphere affecting directly plants water stress. Also, it is linked to other environmental disturbances such as solar radiation, albedo, surface temperature and water vapour gradients, which was mentioned to control the radiative fluxes between the surface and the atmosphere. This makes soil moisture to show a major complexity, since it has a synoptic condition establishing a two-way land-atmospheric interaction defining spatial patterns and temporal dynamics. Also, having information regarding soil moisture is complex due to its spatial and temporal variability; thus, having a continuous and complete database is difficult. In situ, precise measurements can be obtained but when trying to extrapolate them to a major scale, they are not reliable, which generates uncertainty when trying to use them directly to estimated parameters or in the use of hydrological models. The aim of this chapter is to analyse the database generated for SWC in a complex ecosystem using different methods under different latency and spatially in order to answer that (a) shortage periods could redefine water availability and (b) dielectric methods are a real SWC option in an ecosystem highly dynamic.

**2. Soil moisture**

water available to the roots [9].

between adjacent soil volumes, is expressed as:

\_\_\_ *dS*

where \_\_\_ *dS*

[kg·kg−1

] [4, 10].

runoff and *Rg*

Arnell [7] defined soil moisture as the amount of water stored in the non-saturated zone, where the soil is made of different layers or horizons (soil profile) each with different properties. These soil properties vary depending on the depth and type of rock that forms it, as well as the time at which the soil has developed and the processes that affect it. As the amount of water present in the soil layers depends on the variation of rainfall intensity and the degree of runoff or infiltration after a storm; areas with rainfall >1800 mm are considered wet, 700–1800 mm are wet-dry and <700 mm are dry. Also, loss of moisture in the soil can be as water vapour by evaporation, extraction of plant roots, transpiration or drainage in deeper layers, being the first two more significant during periods of drought [5, 8]. Within the soil, water presents a dynamic behaviour according to the potential water gradients dominated by hygroscopic and gravity for the saturated moisture content and, by capillarity under drier conditions. The hygroscopic soil moisture is defined as the amount of water that adheres to the surface of the soil particles forming a thin film; this humidity is not available for the root zone. Gravitational moisture is the amount of water that enters from the surface of the soil to the unsaturated zone in a vertical movement. Finally, capillary moisture is the amount of

Correlation between TDR and FDR Soil Moisture Measurements at Different Scales to Establish…

http://dx.doi.org/10.5772/intechopen.81477

57

The state of soil moisture could be described in terms of the amount of water and the energy associated with the forces that hold the water in the soil. Both water content and water potential are related to a particular soil by the physical properties such as plant growth, soil temperature, chemical transport and ground water recharge. The amount of water is defined by water content, and the energy state of the water is the water potential. At this, the terrestrial water balance for a surface soil layer, which includes vegetation but not the lateral exchange

*dt* is the change of water content within a layer of soil, which considers soil moisture,

varying vertically and horizontally, it differs based on the soil volume being considered. Following this, the soil water content can be expressed based on its distribution in mass and volume; it is function of the apparent density. In the case of the volumetric water content, it

of gravimetric water, there is a relation between the mass of water per unit mass of dry soil

*VT*

only a fraction of the soil moisture is measured, which refers to a volume of soil. In the case of

is underground drainage. As soil moisture is not homogeneously distributed

surface water, ice and groundwater, *P* is precipitation, *E* is evapotranspiration, *Rs*

Soil moisture (*θ*) is expressed as the ratio of the total volume of soil that is wet [7]:

where *Vw* is the wet volume and *VT* is the volume of the soil both measured in cm3

is expressed in units of volume of water per volume of soil [m3

*θ* = *V*\_\_\_*w*

*dt* = *P* − *E* − *Rs* − *Rg* (1)

m−3

is surface

(2)

. In practice,

], while for the content


*3.3.1. Cythane diterpenes*

*<IP_ADDRESS>.3. Ferruginol*

118 Terpenes and Terpenoids

**Figure 7.** Synthesis of compounds 2–10 [42].

*<IP_ADDRESS>.4. Callitrisic acid*

group have been isolated [55].

anti-inflammatory activity [56].

*3.2.2. Abietatriene 20-7 lactones*

Ferruginol (abieta-8, 11, 13-triene-12-ol) is the simplest phenolic abietane diterpenoid (3). This abietane occurs in plants belonging to the Podocarpaceae and Lamiaceae families [22].

Biological activity: This diterpene has attracted much attention since it has exhibited important bioactivities, such as antimicrobial [46], miticidal [47], cardioactive [48], and antioxidative [49]. Moreover, it accelerates the gastric ulcer healing process, and such effects have been related with the ability of ferruginol to increase the gastric prostaglandin content in vitro [50–52].

Callitrisic acid is a diterpenoid acid contained in the resins of several *Callitris* species (Cupressaceae). It was simultaneously reported as a new natural product [53, 54]. This acid also occurs in plants of the genus *Juniperus* and *Calceolaria*, and it has also been found in the genus *Illicium*. Recently, a series of related acids to callitrisic acid having a C-19 carboxylic

Biological activity: All these acids demonstrated important antiviral activity and significant

The abietatriene lactones are a group of compounds which possess an oxygen-containing ring which predominantly is in the form of lactones (i.e., abietatrien-20,7-olides). This group *Cyathus* is a genus of fungi in the Nidulariaceae, a family collectively known as the bird's nest fungi. Such compounds are named so, as they resemble tiny bird's nests filled with "eggs," structures large enough to have been mistaken in the past for seeds. The first cyathin A3 and allocyathin B3 were reported from fungus *C. helenae* in 1972, and since then a number of other diterpenes being isolated and documented from different species belong to genus *Cyathus* [61]. In particular, the species belonging to the genus *Cyathus* is recognized as prolific producer of bioactive cyathane diterpenoids with inimitable tricyclic ring skeleton [62]. Cyathane diterpenoids also represent a group of natural products with versatility both in structure and bioactivity [63, 64]. Cyathane diterpenes are important bioactive metabolites extracted from the genus *Cyathus*, *Hericium*, and *Sarcodon.* Genus *Cyathus* is beneficial in producing healthy food and possesses the potential of nitric oxide (NO) inhibition and antibacterial activities [64].


The fact that majority of the respondents considered it immoral to engage in different acts that may constitute copyright infringement illustrates a strong sense of acceptance of intellectual property rights over informational goods. This may be contrasted with the findings from many other countries in Asia, particularly China, wherein some scholars have shown that the concept of intellectual property rights may have been alien to the society for a very long time.115 For example, scholars

114For more detailed discussion and data on the exposure of the respondents in this survey to different forms of pirated products, see Scaria, A.G. (2014). *Piracy in the Indian Film Industry: Copyright and Cultural Consonance* (pp. 104–111). Cambridge University Press.

115See, for example, Alford, W.P., (1995). *To Steal a Book Is an Elegant Offense: Intellectual Property Law in Chinese Civilization.* Stanford: Stanford University Press. Some of the other Asian countries wherein scholars have tried to analyse IP infringements from a local/comparative cultural context include Indonesia and Thailand. See, for example, Arli, D., et al. (2015). The Impact of Moral Equity, Relativism and Attitude on Individuals: Digital Piracy Behaviour in a Developing Country. *Marketing Intelligence & Planning*, 33, 348 and Kini, R.B., et al. (2004). Shaping of Moral Intensity Regarding Software Piracy: A Comparison Between Thailand and U.S. Students. *Journal of Business Ethics,* 49, 91.

have highlighted the importance given in the Chinese society to sharing as a traditional Chinese cultural value, and examined how such values may affect perceptions of morality with regard to copyright piracy.116 However, due to historical existence of restrictions to access to knowledge on lines of gender, caste, etc., restrictions based on IPR may not have come as a substantial culture shift in India. Hence, it may be reasonably hypothesised that the socio-cultural history of knowledge sharing in India may be contributing to acceptance of intellectual monopolies in India, even though it is difficult to illustrate this empirically.

#### **4 Knowledge Sharing and Some Recent Policies**

The previous sections, which focused on historical and contemporary aspects of knowledge sharing and IP protection in India, present a bleak picture regarding knowledge sharing in India. In this context, it may be useful to examine whether any major policy changes are being adopted in India to encourage sharing of knowledge resources in light of the opportunities enabled by the sharing economy. While policies and plans are not enforceable in a court of law, they might be useful documents to better understand the direction policy makers are taking in a relevant area. In order to gauge the degree of importance given by policy makers to knowledge sharing within the broader innovation policy framework, we would like to analyse two recent policies of the government of India – the National Intellectual Property Rights Policy, 2016 and the Startup India Action Plan, 2016. These two policies were chosen for this analysis because they are recent policies which emphasise on innovation. It would be interesting to see the praxis they seek to use to reach that goal and whether the same is conducive to a sharing economy. This part of the chapter provides a critical analysis of these policies from the perspective of a sharing economy which seeks to maximise and diversify innovation.

#### **4.1 National Intellectual Property Rights Policy, 2016**

The introductory statements in the National Intellectual Property Rights Policy include phrases such as 'holistic, conducive ecosystem', 'socio-cultural development', 'public interest', 'knowledge economy', and 'benefit of all'.117 The vision

116See, for example, Swinyard, W. R., et al. (1990). The Morality of Software Piracy: A Cross-Cultural Analysis. *Journal of Business Ethics*, 9, 656 and Ang, S. H., et al. (2001). Spot the Difference: Consumer Responses Towards Counterfeits. *Journal of Consumer Marketing*, 18, 221. On the other hand, some studies have also shown how different, presumably conflicting, traditional cultural values in China may be interacting when it comes to decision making like buying IP infringing products. See, for example, Wan, W. W. N., et al. (2009). Do Traditional Chinese Cultural Values Nourish a Market for Pirated CDs. *Journal of Business Ethics*, 88, 187–194. However, it must be clarified that these studies should also be subjected to further analyses and verification.

117National Intellectual Property Rights Policy, 2016, p. 1.

statement even indicates that the policy was introduced envisaging an India where 'knowledge owned is transformed into knowledge shared'.118 A superficial glance at these words and phrases may lead to the assumption that the policy seeks to draw attention to the importance of striking a balance between IPR and knowledge sharing.

However, a closer look at the policy document makes it clear that the provisions neither seek to nor end up achieving that. On the contrary, one of the most worrisome aspects of the policy is its singular and inordinate focus on strict IP protection for fostering creativity and innovation.119 While IP protection may incentivise innovation and creativity in certain cases, it is merely one of the many potential incentives. As many empirical studies have shown, innovations and creativity also thrive in the so-called 'negative spaces of IPR', where IP protection either does not exist or IP protection is not enforced by right holders.120 Moreover, in many ways, stringent IP restrictions may also limit knowledge flows in a way that further innovations that could have been made on the basis of the protected IP are hindered. In order to have a truly innovative society, educational, social, economic, and legal conditions need to work in harmony to ensure that the appropriate rights are prioritised depending on the context.

The introduction to the policy states that the perception that IP protection may not be required must be changed through awareness creation.121 As one may recall from the discussions in the earlier section on historical aspects of knowledge sharing in India, the generalisation in this statement is based on the faulty presumption that IP protection is alien to Indian society, and that strict exercise of IPR is necessarily better for an innovator or creator.122

Objective 1 of the policy deals with IPR awareness, and emphasises the need to conduct outreach and promotion to make citizens from all sections of the society aware of the economic, social, and cultural benefits of IPRs.123 While it might be important to make citizens aware of their legal and constitutional rights, portraying IPRs as the panacea that can magically transform the innovation landscape may be particularly harmful for the innovation ecosystem in a sharing economy. The policy even talks about high quality and cost-effective innovation in this context, although there is no clarity as to how increased awareness about IPRs would aid that.

Objective 2 focuses on stimulation of IP generation which is envisaged as an end in itself. IP should never be an end, but just one of the many tools which can be used

118National Intellectual Property Rights Policy, 2016, p. 1.

119Basheer, S. & Agarwal, P. (2017). India's New IP Policy: A Bare Act? *The Indian Journal of Law and Technology*, 13(2), pp. 6–13.

120See, generally, Raustiala, K. & Sprigman, C. (2012). *The Knockoff Economy: How Imitation Sparks Innovation.* Oxford University Press.

121National Intellectual Property Rights Policy, 2016, p. 3.

122See, also, Basheer, S. & Agarwal, P. (2017). India's New IP Policy: A Bare Act? *The Indian Journal of Law and Technology*, 13, p. 7.

123National Intellectual Property Rights Policy, 2016, p. 5.

to reach the goal of innovation.124 Here, the policy talks about conducting IP audits, promoting IP registration, and using registered IPRs as a metric to evaluate one's performance. In the absence of any provision urging innovators to share their IP in certain contexts, this again indicates a narrow perception of innovation and may further prevent researchers from sharing their knowledge resources for the broader benefit of the society. Interestingly, the policy gives a cursory nod to 'open sourcebased research' such as Open Source Drug Discovery (OSDD) in this part, but does not provide any explanations or roadmaps.125 While finer details of implementation of open source-based research may not be expected or desirable in this policy, more in-depth discussions on such initiatives would have better highlighted their importance. This is in contrast to many other parts of the IP policy wherein it has provided detailed guidance on how to increase IP awareness, registrations, and enforcement.

Objective 3 deals with the need to have strong and effective IP laws which balance the interests of the IPR holder with the public interest. Among other things, this section talks about the need to update outdated laws; consult stakeholders; enter into treaties; protect traditional knowledge, traditional cultural expressions, and genetic resources; simplify and streamline legal processes; make the legal processes efficient and transparent, and fill in gaps in the existing legal system. However, the lack of clarity as to how to strike the balance of interests leaves much to be desired as regards this policy objective.126

Objective 5 talks about the commercialisation of IPRs. The policy says that '*[t] he value and economic reward for the owners of IP rights comes only from their commercialization*'. We must reiterate that this assertion is unsubstantiated and misleading, since value should be decided by the individual in question, and the system should provide, or at least refrain from denying, non-monetary incentives for innovators and creators.127 This part of the policy also mentions that free and open source software should be promoted and open standards should be adopted, but – in the

124Basheer, S. & Agarwal, P. (2017). India's New IP Policy: A Bare Act? *The Indian Journal of Law and Technology*, 13, p. 6.

125Open Science Drug Discovery is an initiative led by Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR), India which aims to provide a platform for global partnership and collaboration to evolve solutions to complex health issues and develop affordable healthcare. See Open Source Drug Discovery. http://www.osdd.net/home. Accessed 25 July 2018.

126 Ibid., p. 15.

127Contrary to the perception that patents are primary drivers of innovation, numerous 'important' inventions such as penicillin, x-ray machine, and many life-saving vaccines were never patented by the respective innovators. See Fontana, R., Nuvolari, A., Shimizu, H., & Vezzulli, A. (2013). Reassessing patent propensity: Evidence from a dataset of R&D awards, 1977–2004. *Research Policy*, 42(10), 1780–1792. This is in sharp contrast to innovators like Thomas Alva Edison, who had as many as 1093 patents. See Rutgers School of Arts and Sciences. Edison's patents. Thomas A. Edison Papers. https://edison.rutgers.edu/patents.htm. Similarly, unlike The Gillette Company, which is (in)famous for its huge number of patents and closed innovation model, Tesla has shifted to an open innovation model and has promised not to initiate lawsuit against anyone who uses their patented technologies 'in good faith'. See Sansonetti, A., & Purificato, M. (2014). The Open Innovation Paradigm in Electric Vehicle Industry: A case study of Tesla Motors. *LUISS Guido Carli*, 73. https://tesi.luiss.it/13496/1/purificato-marco-tesi-2014.pdf, and Rivette, K.G., & Kline, D. (2000). Discovering New Value in Intellectual Property. *Harvard Business Review*, January– February, 58. http://secure.com.sg/courses/ICI/Grab/Reading\_Articles/L07\_A02\_Rivette.pdf

absence of further explanation – we are not sure how exactly this relates to commercialisation of IPRs. Interestingly, although government bodies such as Cell for IPR Promotion and Management (CIPAM) have been given certain responsibilities here to help IPR holders commercialise their IP, no mention has been made of knowledge sharing, even by publicly funded institutions. In fact, the policy encourages publicly funded research laboratories, academia, and other institutions to commercialise their research outputs.

Objective 6 deals with the strengthening of enforcement and adjudication in case of IP infringement, and emphasises on creating awareness about the harm caused by IP infringement. As indicated in the earlier section of this chapter, data from our study show that most respondents were of the view that copyright piracy has social costs at both micro and macro levels. The emphasis on awareness regarding IP protection, in the absence of equal emphasis on knowledge sharing, may further strengthen such perceptions and adversely affect innovation and creativity.

Finally, Objective 7 deals with the strengthening and expansion of '*human resources, institutions and capacities for teaching, training, research and skill building in IPR'.* The prominent way in which this has been envisaged in the policy – introducing and strengthening IP courses in institutions at different levels, but without emphasising on the need for also educating the public about the exceptions provided under different IP legislation – is not likely to encourage creativity or innovation.

Interestingly, at a time when the unlimited potential of sharing and openness in innovation is being explored across the world, the term 'open' has been mentioned in only four sections of the policy, that too in an extremely vague manner.128 The term 'share' also makes an appearance just once in this document - in the vision statement - clearly indicating the extent of importance policymakers in India attach to openness and sharing of knowledge resources. While the chances of this IP policy adding any value to the IP system and the innovation ecosystem are low, the extent

128The four sections of the National IPR Policy 2016, wherein the term 'open' appear are:

2.10 – Encourage R&D including open source based research such as Open Source Drug Discovery (OSDD) by the Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR) for new inventions for prevention, diagnosis and treatment of diseases, especially those that are life threatening and those that have high incidence in India;

2.17 – Promote 'infusion of funds to public R&D units' as a part of Corporate Social Responsibility to foster a culture of open innovation;

5.12 – Promote use of Free and Open Source Software along with adoption of open standards; possibility of creating Indian standard operating environments will be examined;

7.9 – Develop distance learning and on-line courses on IP for all categories of users; strengthen IP teaching in open universities and centres of skill development.

This is in contrast with the policy framework adopted in some other parts of the world. For example, the European Union has adopted 'Horizon 2020' to foster open access and open innovation for 'excellent science' and 'smart, sustainable and inclusive growth'. See The EU Framework Programme for Research & Innovation. (2014). HORIZON 2020 in Brief (p. 5). European Commission. https://ec.europa.eu/programmes/horizon2020/sites/horizon2020/files/H2020\_ inBrief\_EN\_FinalBAT.pdf

of damage it may cause to innovations and creativity in a sharing economy could be substantial due to the high emphasis it provides on IP ownership.

#### **4.2 Startup India Action Plan, 2016**

Startup India, a flagship initiative of the Government of India, seeks to build an ecosystem that nurtures startups and innovations, and believes that this can drive sustainable economic growth and create employment opportunities.129 In this context, it seeks to expand the 'startup movement' sectorally and geographically; and the Startup India Action Plan, 2016 came with the objective of supporting this expansion. For the purpose of this chapter, it would be useful to critically analyse the provisions of the Plan that are meant to foster innovation and collaboration. We would like to highlight four aspects of the policy in this regard and raise some key questions.

Firstly, the Plan introduces a scheme for Startup Intellectual Property Protection (SIPP), which is aimed at facilitating the filing of patents, trademarks, and designs by innovative startups. The scheme mainly entails promotion of awareness about and adoption of IPRs; and provision of IPR services and resources, including fee rebates and fast-tracking of patent applications. The entire facilitation fee is supposed to be borne by the central government, and the startup would only be expected to pay statutory fees. But interestingly, no part of the document appears to give any indication that the policy makers asked the most fundamental question – are Indian startups IP consumers or IP producers, or a mix of both? The emphasis provided in the plan for IP protection clearly gives the impression that the policy makers drafted the action plan with the presumption that all startups in India are solely IP producers. If Indian startups are at least partly IP consumers, the Plan should have at least given equal emphasis on facilitating more access to protected IP, including acquisition of IP by the government and open access to such acquired IP.

Secondly, the Plan proposes organisation of fests for showcasing innovation by startups, and for providing platforms for collaboration.130 While this is a laudable step, a closer look at the provisions makes one realise that these initiatives are more in the nature of networking platforms for the startups to connect with other stakeholders from the industry and the academia. The policy has completely missed the importance of building open collaborative platforms.

Thirdly, the Plan envisages the setting up of infrastructure and awards for fostering research and innovation. Importantly, it talks about 'Grand Innovation Challenge' awards to fund innovations concerning ultra low-cost solutions to local problems. It also lists various measures that the government is supposed to implement for promoting research and innovation among young students. These measures include

129This Plan defines Startup, for the purpose of government schemes, as an 'entity, incorporated or registered in India not prior to 5 years, with annual turnover not exceeding INR 25 crore in any preceding financial year, working towards innovation, development, deployment or commercialization of new products, processes or services driven by technology or intellectual property'. See Startup India Action Plan, 2016, p. 28.

130Startup India Action Plan, 2016, p. 19.

programmes for providing prototyping support for school children, and supporting student innovations and research. As regards research infrastructure, the Plan discusses the setting up of 31 'innovation centres' and 7 'research parks'. The innovation centres will be set up at certain national institutes to augment incubation and R&D efforts, by, inter alia, encouraging student-driven startups from host institutes and providing smooth approvals for incubators. The proposed research parks are expected to allow industry-academia collaborations by enabling research-focused companies to set up base in the park and utilise the hosts' expertise. The proposed research parks are supposed to have self-sustaining and world-class research infrastructure, and foster meaningful collaboration between startups and the academia. But would these parks be open for all or would it be limited to specific people? When public funds are used for creating infrastructure, it is also important to ensure that such infrastructure can be used by all people, including those from outside the host institutions. Unfortunately, the Plan has not given due importance to creating such open and shared infrastructure.

Finally, like the National IPR Policy, the Startup Plan has also failed to provide sufficient measures that can foster meaningful knowledge sharing and equitable opportunities for innovation. It would have enabled a far more optimal startup ecosystem in India if it had taken into consideration all the potentials of a sharing economy in the innovation process.

#### **5 Challenging the Status Quo: The Way Forward?**

The preceding parts of this chapter illustrate that the culture of sharing knowledge in India has historically been riddled by various socio-economic and legal restrictions. Despite the recognition of the need to create and innovate, and the introduction of policies and plans to foster the same, there is a lack of holistic analysis and insightful policymaking. As highlighted previously, inequitable access to knowledge hinders diversity and extent of participation in innovation. It is therefore important to challenge the status quo, and initiate and implement changes that can lead to sharing of both non-rivalrous knowledge, and rivalrous and scarce resources that are required to produce knowledge.

It is beyond the scope of this chapter to highlight the specific legal and policy recommendations for making significant changes to the status quo. However, we hope that the discussions in this chapter will trigger debates that can lead to changes in the attitude towards knowledge sharing. In this context, it is important to highlight that apart from providing access to non-rivalrous and rivalrous resources required for knowledge creation, it is necessary to address the social gaps that hinder participation in the sharing economy. It is therefore crucial to devise and implement meaningful measures to reduce socio-economic gaps based on caste, class, gender, geography, etc. Efforts should also be made to address language gaps and prejudices against knowledge creators from outside the formal research/innovation ecosystem. Only through such an inclusive approach in knowledge creation, can India explore the full potential of a sharing economy.

#### **References**

**Open Access** This chapter is licensed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits use, sharing, adaptation, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, as long as you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons license and indicate if changes were made.

The images or other third party material in this chapter are included in the chapter's Creative Commons license, unless indicated otherwise in a credit line to the material. If material is not included in the chapter's Creative Commons license and your intended use is not permitted by statutory regulation or exceeds the permitted use, you will need to obtain permission directly from the copyright holder.

## **Index**

#### **A**

#### **B**

Biosafety, 354, 357–359, 369, 402–404 Biotechnology, 245, 273, 320, 349–352, 356, 359, 361, 363, 365, 368, 396, 403, 404, 409 Bolar exception, 254, 256, 257, 265–266, 268 Breeder's rights, 330, 332–338, 340–343, 345, 354, 355 Bt cotton, 354, 369, 401–405, 408

#### **C**

Censorship, 60, 123–126, 134, 136, 154 Centralization, 49, 51 China, 2, 25, 40, 72, 101, 121, 146, 174, 216, 259, 286, 313, 327, 351, 400, 416, 446, 468, 501 Civil Law, 4, 25–37

Closer Economic Partnership Arrangement (CEPA), 152–154, 157

#### **D**

Decentralization, 64, 475 Decriminalization, 168, 169 Deregulation, 348–366 Digital platforms, 195 Discrimination, 60, 491, 494, 496 Distribution, 5, 9–11, 16, 51, 64, 126–130, 133–137, 149, 151, 153, 156–158, 165, 166, 168, 174, 178, 180, 196, 202–204, 210, 229, 253, 358, 359, 390, 392–395, 404, 474, 476, 497 Distribution system, 11, 128, 132, 133

© The Author(s) 2019 K.-C. Liu, U. S. Racherla (eds.), *Innovation, Economic Development, and Intellectual Property in India and China*, ARCIALA Series on Intellectual Assets and Law in Asia, https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-13-8102-7

Diversity, 49, 50, 54, 64, 137, 154, 177, 358, 400, 409, 487, 490, 507

#### **E**

#### **F**

#### **G**

#### **H**

#### **I**

#### **J**

#### **K**

Knowledge, 14, 26, 40, 82, 101, 124, 163, 181, 254, 272, 304, 329, 364, 396, 417, 455, 473, 486 Knowledge sharing, 21, 396, 398, 486–507

#### **L**

Leninism, 5, 43, 47, 53, 63

#### **M**

#### **N**

National Food Security Act (NFSA), 15, 393, 394, 410 National innovation, 5, 39–64 National Innovation System (NIS), 5, 39–43, 48, 58, 59, 63 New Electronics Policy (NEP), 87, 96, 98, 104 New plant varieties, 16, 35, 327–346, 356, 357, 372, 399 *Nuziveedu*, 370, 376, 377, 385, 405, 407

#### **O**

#### **P**

#### **R**

#### **S**

Sharing economy, 3, 20, 468–483, 486–507 Socialism, 5, 43, 47 Software, 9, 60, 72, 94, 136, 165, 174, 245, 504 Startups, 506, 507 State-owned enterprises (SOEs), 17, 19, 20, 416, 419–423, 427, 429, 431, 434–437 Supplier industry, 452, 454, 461 Sustainability, 391, 396, 410, 424, 475, 477–479, 483

Sustainable agriculture, 388–411 Sustainable development goals (SDGs), 390 Sustainable economic growth, 272 Sustainable food systems, 391–399, 410 Systemization, 29–32

#### **T**

#### **U**

United Nations' Food and Agriculture Organisation (UNFAO), 389, 392, 398 United States of America (USA), 9, 12, 13, 15, 17, 52, 61, 79, 83, 85, 86, 88, 106, 132, 137, 140, 141, 159, 164, 175, 176, 183, 188, 220, 240, 263, 273, 281, 289, 295, 296, 312, 315, 322, 330, 350, 353, 363, 364, 401, 445

#### **V**

Variety name rights, 329, 341

#### **W**

Website-blocking, 182–185

#### **Z**

Zero hunger, 390, 392, 398


Chemistry of Benzimidazoles

*Chemistry and Applications of Benzimidazole and its Derivatives*

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[60] Zhao Y, Chao W, Qiu P, Li X, Wang Q, Chen J, et al. New benzimidazolebased bipolar hosts: Highly efficient phosphorescent and thermally activated delayed fluorescent OLEDs employing the same device structure. ACS Applied Materials & Interfaces. 2016;**8**(4):2635-2643. DOI: 10.1021/

acsami.5b10464

membranes with exceptional high water vapor permeability and selectivity. Journal of Materials Chemistry A. 2017;**5**(41):21807-21819. DOI: 10.1039/

[53] Muthuraja A, Kalainathan S. A study on growth, optical, mechanical, and NLO properties of 2-mercaptobenzimidazole,

2-phenylbenzimidazole and 2-hydroxy benzimidazole single crystals: A comparative investigation. Materials Technology. 2017;**32**(6):335-348. DOI: 10.1080/10667857.2016.1235080

[54] Tayade RP, Sekar N. Benzimidazolethiazole based NLOphoric styryl dyes with solid state emission – Synthesis, photophysical, hyperpolarizability and TD-DFT studies. Dyes and Pigments. 2016;**128**:111-123. DOI: 10.1016/j.

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Principles. Hopkinsville, KY: Academic Press; 2018. pp. 569-580. DOI: 10.1016/

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[57] Eldebss TMA, Farag AM, Shamy AYM. Synthesis of some benzimidazolebased heterocycles and their application

as copper corrosion inhibitors. Journal of Heterocyclic Chemistry. 2019;**56**(2):371-390. DOI: 10.1002/

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B978-0-12-811410-0.00045-3

C7TA05081J

dyepig.2016.01.012

mutage/get019

jhet.3407

corsci.2010.09.029

**12**

**15**

**Chapter 2**

**Abstract**

ligand combinations.

functionalization

**1. Introduction**

properties to emerge.

scaffold—so-called late-stage functionalization [5].

Catalytic Intermolecular

This chapter describes contemporary strategies for selective catalytic intermolecular functionalization of the benzimidazole scaffold. Functionalization at nitrogen and position C-2 is well developed employing copper, palladium, rhodium, nickel, and cobalt catalysis. Direct CH activation is the predominant approach to C-2 functionalization. Nickel-based catalysts can activate C—O bonds in conjunction with C—H activation at benzimidazole which grants access to a very broad range of phenols and enols as convenient functionalization precursors in this chemistry. The remaining carbon positions of benzimidazoles are typically functionalized via a sequential halogenation/coupling strategy to ensure selectivity. A key success factor in enabling these chemistries has been the fine-tuning of catalyst-

**Keywords:** benzimidazoles, catalysis, C—H activation, cross-coupling, late-stage

Benzimidazoles are tremendously important heterocycles in chemistry. They play a vital part in modern medicinal chemistry due to the importance of the benzimidazole as a pharmacophore in natural products and pharmaceuticals [1]. Benzimidazoles have a central role in contemporary homogeneous catalysis, particularly as ligands in metal catalysis and as a source of *N*-heterocyclic carbenes [2]. Moreover, they are important components of organic materials, e.g., optoelectronic materials [3]. Thus, the generation of a broad range of structurally diverse benzimidazoles is of paramount importance for enabling novel applications and unique

Substituted benzimidazoles are typically synthesized de novo using a range of methods [1]. This is by far the most common approach, and new methods emerge steadily [4]. However, large libraries of benzimidazoles are needed in medicinal chemistry, catalysis, and materials science in order to discover fine-tuned properties and to optimize these. Thus, de novo synthesis makes for a rather inefficient approach since the benzimidazole scaffold must be constructed for each new analogue needed. A more powerful strategy would be to start with available benzimidazoles and be able to do functionalization with desired groups directly onto the

Functionalization of

*Jørn H. Hansen and Richard Fjellaksel*

Benzimidazoles

#### **Chapter 2**


**Displacement and the Humanities: Manifestos from the Ancient to the Present**

Editors

**Elena Isayev Evan Jewell**

Basel • Beijing • Wuhan • Barcelona • Belgrade • Novi Sad • Cluj • Manchester

*Editors* Elena Isayev Department of Classics and Ancient History, Amory Building, Rennes Drive, Exeter, UK

Evan Jewell Department of History, Rutgers University—Camden Camden, NJ, USA

*Editorial Office* MDPI St. Alban-Anlage 66 4052 Basel, Switzerland

This is a reprint of articles from the Special Issue published online in the open access journal *Humanities* (ISSN 2076-0787) (available at: https://www.mdpi.com/journal/humanities/special issues/Manifestos Ancient Present).

For citation purposes, cite each article independently as indicated on the article page online and as indicated below:

Lastname, Firstname, Firstname Lastname, and Firstname Lastname. Article Title. *Journal Name* **Year**, *Volume Number*, Page Range.

**ISBN 978-3-0365-8786-8 (Hbk) ISBN 978-3-0365-8787-5 (PDF) doi.org/10.3390/books978-3-0365-8787-5**

Cover image courtesy of Aref Hussaini.

© 2023 by the authors. Articles in this book are Open Access and distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) license. The book as a whole is distributed by MDPI under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs (CC BY-NC-ND) license.


**6. Theories**

A comprehensive theory of hypnosis should cover both cognitive and interpersonal terms. Throughout twentieth century the theories about hypnosis have been between "state" vs. "non-state" theories.


**1. Introduction**

Intellectual property (IP) is the application of the mind by any individual to develop or invent something new and original, either an innovative technology or invention that can be legally protected from being exploited by people

without the owner's/inventor's consent [1–3]. This protection can be in terms of a particular country's legislation or a foreign law. The World Intellectual Property Organization [2] describes an innovative technology as a means of creating something novel that improves a product, process or service. Furthermore, it defines an invention as new research results that can both solve a problem and be exploited commercially. According to Kalanje [4], innovative technologies and inventions generally stand a better chance of successfully reaching the marketplace if IP is used strategically.

Various types of IP that can be used to legally protect the innovative technologies and inventions include patents, copy rights, designs, trademarks, geographical indications, trade secrets/know-how and plant breeder's rights [5–8]. By copyright, the author of the present paper refers to a bundle of rights granted automatically (in South Africa) by law to creators of the original work [9]. However, the work must be fixed in a tangible medium (i.e. copies and phonorecords) for protection under this IP. Typical examples of materials that can be copyrighted encompass artistic, dramatic, literary and musical works, sound recordings, broadcasts and films [10, 11]. Unlike copyright, registered designs are granted as a form of formal IP and are classified as either aesthetic or functional [12]. According to the National Intellectual Property Management Office [6], aesthetic designs protect the visual attractiveness of a product, and functional designs protect features of an article that are necessitated by the function the article is to perform. These designs must be new and original, and not common in the state of the art at the time of registration or protection. It should be stated that a sole product may be registered as both a functional and aesthetic design. With regard to trademarks, their primary functions are to distinguish different sources of products or providers of services from each other, but they may also have other connotations [13, 14]. A trademark can take many forms including amongst others, words, pictures or even smells [15]. Geographical indications are forms of IP that identify the geographical origin of a product where a given quality, reputation or other characteristic of such product is essentially attributable to its geographical origin [16]. Generally, geographical indications are protected by means of sui generis systems or via conventional IP rights, mainly as a form of trademark. A trade secret is any confidential and commercially valuable information that provides a company with a competitive advantage, such as customer lists, methods of production, marketing strategies, pricing information and chemical formulae [17]. Protection of these secrets may extend indefinitely, lasting as long as the subject matter of the trade secret is commercially valuable and is kept confidential. In contrast, a patent is the legal right of an inventor to exclude others from making or using an invention, and this right is customarily limited in time to 20 years from the priority date in most countries [18]. To qualify for patent protection, inventions must be new, nonobvious and commercially applicable.

Intellectual properties are becoming increasingly important tools for sustainable development in developing countries [19]. Most developing countries that are found in various regions of Africa such as Namibia [20], Nigeria [21], Kenya [22], Mozambique [23], Uganda [24], Tanzania [25] and Egypt [26] amongst the others have developed IP policies to foster economic and social development. South Africa is not excluded and the IP Rights from Publicly Financed Research and Development Act, Act 51 of 2008 (IPR Act), was established by the government to encourage these developments. The objectives of this Act are to encourage the identification, protection, utilisation and commercialisation of all IP emanating from publicly financed research and development, for the benefit of the people of the Republic.

**121**

percentage, were used were necessary.

*Activities Pivotal for the Sustainability of Newly Established Technology Transfer Offices: A Case…*

As part of an effort to achieve these, the South African government has recently established technology transfer offices (TTOs) in various publicly financed universities and other state-owned enterprises to carry out the above-stated objectives. The government provides the start-up finance for a certain number of years (3 years for start) to ensure the establishment of these offices, and thereafter, it is the responsibility of the host institution to sustain the referred office. It should be stated that the performance of university TTOs in South Africa and elsewhere has been studied, and a wide range of Data Envelopment Analysis metrics including TTO revenue, number of IP/invention disclosures, number of patent applications, patents granted, licences signed, start-up companies formed and new commercial products, employment and productivity growth of start-up partners amid others have been selected to assess the performance and success of TTOs based at the universities [27, 28]. However, studies looking at the strategic activities with potential to contribute towards achieving these metrics which are curial to the sustainability of newly formed TTOs within the publicly financed South African universities (PFSAU) are lacking. It is fundamental that continual effective strategic activities that encourage the innovative ideas and disclosures of actionable IP be put in place to ensure that these offices achieve the

The present study is thus aimed at investigating some of these strategic activities. Importantly, the stated Data Envelopment Analysis approach highlighted earlier is regarded as the most suitable and acceptable way of measuring universitybased TTO efficiency. However, such approach is not applicable to newly established TTOs, as the offices need to engage in strategic activities that will in a long run enable them to build a strong IP/invention and commercialisation portfolio to allow the application of such approach. Therefore, the strategic activities can be considered performance measurement necessary to determine whether newly

Information presented in this chapter was gathered using strategic conversation with IP experts and active academic researchers in PFSAU who are knowledgeable about IP and technology transfers. Furthermore, the author also extracted copious notes through listening to strategic conversations amongst local and international IP experts who presented at World Intellectual Property Organisation Summer school, held at the University of the Western Cape (Cape Town, South Africa, 27 November to 08 December 2017), under the theme 'Advanced Intellectual Property and Transfer of Technology'. According to Kyprianou et al. [29], strategic conversations are any naturally occurring, as opposed to scripted or interview-based, interactions (including talk and non-verbal cues) amongst the targeted population. Godfrey and Hill [30] wrote that strategic conversation data are distinct from archival and interview data and are likely to generate insights into otherwise unobservable and neglected aspects of strategy because conversations are (1) unscripted, naturally occurring and fluid and (2) include multiple voices and perspectives. Generally, all the personnel from whom the authors obtained information via strategic conversation are referred in this study as 'participants', except in few cases were they are specified (i.e. academic researchers in PFSAU). Overall, content analysis was used to analyse data gathered. According to Krippendorff [31], this type of analysis provides new insights, increases a researcher's understanding of a particular phenomenon and informs practical actions. Simple descriptive statistics, namely

established TTO is on the right track to achieve their goals or not.

*DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.5772/intechopen.90852*

objectives of IPR and become self-supporting.

**2. Research methods**

#### *Activities Pivotal for the Sustainability of Newly Established Technology Transfer Offices: A Case… DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.5772/intechopen.90852*

As part of an effort to achieve these, the South African government has recently established technology transfer offices (TTOs) in various publicly financed universities and other state-owned enterprises to carry out the above-stated objectives. The government provides the start-up finance for a certain number of years (3 years for start) to ensure the establishment of these offices, and thereafter, it is the responsibility of the host institution to sustain the referred office. It should be stated that the performance of university TTOs in South Africa and elsewhere has been studied, and a wide range of Data Envelopment Analysis metrics including TTO revenue, number of IP/invention disclosures, number of patent applications, patents granted, licences signed, start-up companies formed and new commercial products, employment and productivity growth of start-up partners amid others have been selected to assess the performance and success of TTOs based at the universities [27, 28]. However, studies looking at the strategic activities with potential to contribute towards achieving these metrics which are curial to the sustainability of newly formed TTOs within the publicly financed South African universities (PFSAU) are lacking. It is fundamental that continual effective strategic activities that encourage the innovative ideas and disclosures of actionable IP be put in place to ensure that these offices achieve the objectives of IPR and become self-supporting.

The present study is thus aimed at investigating some of these strategic activities. Importantly, the stated Data Envelopment Analysis approach highlighted earlier is regarded as the most suitable and acceptable way of measuring universitybased TTO efficiency. However, such approach is not applicable to newly established TTOs, as the offices need to engage in strategic activities that will in a long run enable them to build a strong IP/invention and commercialisation portfolio to allow the application of such approach. Therefore, the strategic activities can be considered performance measurement necessary to determine whether newly established TTO is on the right track to achieve their goals or not.