The Council of Agriculture yesterday opened a special office to deal with agricultural technology transfers and intellectual property rights (IPR) management and constancy, Deputy Minister Lee Jen-chyuan said. The establishment of the technology promotion agency was expected to help increase the total amount of agricultural technology transfer contracts over the next three years to NT$500 million (US$15.46 million), Lee said.

To step up the development of the nation’s knowledge-based agriculture and the application of agricultural technology, Lee said the council has spent the past several years setting up the required mechanisms and drafting a set of promotional measures.

Lee said the council has successfully promoted a total of 139 applications for technology transfers and IPR last year, up 50 percent from the average of 90 cases per year over the past five years, while the total income derived from technology transfers conducted through the efforts of the council amounted to NT$47.25 million, up 50 percent from the average of NT$12.93 million per year for the period from 2002 to 2006.

To upgrade agricultural technology research and development, management and protection, the council will have the Industrial Technology Research Institute (ITRI) carry out a project on the management and application of agricultural research, Lee said.

An ITRI official said the agricultural technology promotion office would cooperate with other world-renowned IPR application institutions to push for a revision of the relevant regulations on IPR and technology transfers and to enhance IPR education and training.

“More importantly, the office will serve as a platform to introduce various research and development achievements realized by experimental and research institutes under the Council of Agriculture to local businesses in an attempt to expand the application of agricultural technology,” the official said.