Patents sold 520 million yuan, research teams diverted 400 million yuan, and broke the monopoly of foreign patents in one fell swoop.

More surprisingly, the original research team consisted of only the professor and his son. This professor is Bi Yusui, who works in Shandong University of Technology.

A patent sells 520 million yuan

Professor's team is divided into 4 billion

In 2017, Shandong University of Technology created a patent transfer record for Chinese universities. They signed a patent technology exclusive licensing agreement with Butian New Material Technology Co., Ltd. with a value of 520 million yuan, and Bi Yusui's team got 400 million yuan.

Why can we divide it into 400 million yuan?

"It's not that the school gave Professor Bi 400 million yuan, but that Professor Bi helped the school earn 100 million yuan." Lu Chuanyi, Secretary of the Party Committee of Shandong University of Technology, said that the award to Professor Bi was not a special consideration. As one of the three pilot universities in Shandong Province, the policy allowed 80% of the profits from the transformation of achievements to be owned by the scientific research team.

Not only schools but also a policy that makes Prof Bi get tangible benefits.

According to the income of wages and salaries, 400 million yuan of patent transfer fees will be taxed at more than 140 million yuan. By 2018, the state has made it clear that the cash incentives given to scientific and technological personnel in the income from the transformation of scientific and technological achievements can be reduced by 50% to pay individual income tax according to law.

"This policy has saved me more than 7 million yuan in taxes." Bi Yusui said.

Why can professors be divided into 400 million?

The high-priced patent is a new type of chemical foaming agent called chlorofluoropolyurethane.

It is simple to say, but the synthesis of polyurethane esterification chemical foaming agent without chlorine and fluorine is a fantasy to the international chemical community before Bi Yusui.

Foaming agent is an important raw material for the production of polyurethane foam. Polyurethane foam can be seen everywhere in daily life. Soft foam can be applied to mattress, sofa and so on. Rigid foam can be applied to fridge, building external wall thermal insulation, sheet metal, pipe insulation and other industries.

In order to produce these products, foaming agents must be used. Four generations of polyurethane foaming agents have been developed in European and American countries, but they contain fluorine and chlorine elements, and have been monopolizing the global market.

Bi Yusui believes that he can challenge chemical foaming agents.

What he did not expect was that it would be so difficult to start from scratch.

"Without a research foundation, I can't write project papers, I can't apply for research funding, and I have to pay for it myself." Bi Yusui said that, in addition to the fact that there is no ready-made basic theory, it took five years to study the theory alone. Until 2008, Bi Yusui finally had a complete idea. He began experimenting with his son.

In 2011, they finally synthesized a new chemical foaming agent for polyurethane. This new substance does not contain chlorofluorine and does not break the ozone layer.

The Chinese may have developed chemical foaming agents that do not contain chlorofluorine! At the beginning of 2012, the experiment has just progressed. Several international chemical giants have come to visit, test and cooperate.

"I'd also like to know if this chemical foaming agent will work." Bi Yusui promised to take samples to East China University of Technology for testing.

"When testing, we dare not leak a drop of our samples for fear of leaking." Bi Yusui recalled. The test results are ideal, and Bi Yusui's efforts for more than ten years have finally succeeded.

Fireproof, theft-proof and leak-proof

Those wonderful things before applying for a patent

The successful development of foaming agent was originally a pleasure, but Bi Yusui found that his achievements were being watched.

At that time, foreign enterprises proposed to cooperate with Bi Yusui, but he did not agree. I thought it was over, but during the National Day of 2013, something unexpected happened.

"I went to work and found that our office had been prized." Bi Yusui recalled that 18 computer hard disks were stolen from the laboratory.

Fortunately, in order to prevent technology theft, Bi Yusui never put any relevant information in the laboratory.

Bi Yusui thought that patent protection of foaming agent must be paid close attention to. But he was afraid to divulge the information and never dared to submit it it. Until 2016, when Shandong University of Technology learned about the situation, the school came out and wrote a proposal report "Promoting the industrialization of chlorofluoropolyurethane foaming materials", which was submitted directly to the State Council.

On February 17, 2016, the leadership of the State Council gave instructions in the report on the proposal. Later, the Ministry of Science and Technology, the Ministry of Environmental Protection, the China Petroleum and Chemistry Federation, the Polyurethane Industry Association and other joint expert groups, the National Development and Reform Commission, the China Petroleum and Chemistry Federation, and the State Intellectual Property Office have investigated the progress of the project.

Finally, under the guidance of the State Intellectual Property Office, the world's only chemical foaming agent technology submitted four Chinese patent applications and one PCT international patent application. In 2017, the patent network layout of "New Chemical Foaming Agent for Chlorine-Free Fluorourethane" was completed, and the scientific research achievements were protected to the greatest extent.

Nowadays, many foreign enterprises want to cooperate with Bi Yusui. "That's the advantage of core patents in their own hands. If they want to use this technology, they have to find China."