Kellogg Co., a longtime contributor to MSU, has made another donation to the university.
The MSU Board of Trustees, in a special meeting via conference call, approved Tuesday the donation of two sets of patents.
The 11 U.S. patents and numerous international patents, which cover functional foods and consumer packaging, are worth an estimated $49 million.
Inventors of products or technologies get a patent for creations, allowing them to control the inventions and reap the financial rewards.
With the gift, MSU owns the licensing rights to certain technologies invented by Kellogg.
“The reason MSU was selected is that we really admire their technical competency in both food science and packaging science,” Kellogg spokesman Chris Ervin said.
The company no longer needs the technology, Ervin said.
A portion of royalties from the patent will go to the School of Packaging, and the Department of Food Science and Human Nutrition, Cook said.
The remainder is expected to go to the MSU Foundation, a board of business leaders and university supporters across the country. The board helps fund proposals that come from university units.
Trustee David Porteous said MSU and Kellogg have a long history together.
“The Kellogg name and Michigan State are intertwined,” he said. “This is another example of the extraordinary generosity of the corporation.”
Paul Hunt, associate vice president for research, said revenue from the patents won’t come in until MSU obtains licensing agreements on them.
“We would need to find firms other than Kellogg to whom we could license that technology,” Hunt said. “Then the university would, in principle, receive royalties if we’re successful.”
MSU received 47 new patents in fiscal year 2001 and owns between 350 and 400 patents, Hunt said.
He also said the university received $28.3 million in royalties from patents in fiscal year 2001.
“This is an act of very real generosity on the part of the Kellogg Co., which we certainly appreciate,” Hunt said.
The agreement is rare because it’s unusual for universities to be able to negotiate prices with outside firms on their patents, Hunt said.
The functional foods category of patents covers new ways of processing and using psyllium, a plant that contains fiber. The plant has been found to lower blood-cholesterol levels and is used as a laxative.
MSU will only be allowed to license psyllium patents not used in cereal.
The consumer packaging patents are for “pour-spout” technology, used in paperboard-lined and linerless containers. The technology makes opening and closing containers easier.
Trustees Randall Pittman and Colleen McNamara were not present for the meeting. McNamara, who could not be reached for comment, joined the conference call after adjournment, and requested her vote be officially recorded “no.”
Trustee Dee Cook said news of the patent agreement was a wonderful surprise.
“I was completely overwhelmed,” she said. “It’s really marvelous.”
