Abstract
The fundamental Law of Education (2006) defined social contribution as the third mission of Japanese universities, after education and research. Since then, university-industry collaboration including joint research and licensing of intellectual property rights has been growing in Japan. University-industry collaboration provides universities with benefits such as considerations for research fund and license fee.
Even now, education and research -the primary functions of universities- still determine the real value of universities. Therefore, the university-industry collaboration should not adversely affect these functions.
Here, by focusing on joint research agreement, I review the terms that should be considered to enable universities to safeguard their academic freedom after the completion of university-industry collaboration.
