Jason Loh, founder of Piece Future
Asia does not have a shortage of patents. It has a shortage of commercial pathways for technologies that sit unused inside large corporate portfolios.
That is the gap Piece Future is targeting through IPHatch, an open-innovation platform that gives startups access to patents from multinational companies and research institutions. Now entering its ninth year, IPHatch Asia 2026 is co-organised with the Hong Kong Trade Development Council and includes intellectual property (IP) from Panasonic, Murata, Nokia, CASIO, Ricoh and Nitto Denso, as well as universities including Tohoku, Nagoya and Hokkaido.
For Southeast Asian founders, the timing is relevant. Venture capital has become more selective, while startups face pressure to prove defensibility earlier. IPHatch’s pitch is that founders need not build every technology from scratch; they can use existing corporate IP as a base for new products.
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e27 spoke with Jason Loh, founder of Piece Future, about how the model works and what it means for Asia’s startups.
The following interview has been edited for clarity and length.
Why do companies such as Panasonic, Nokia and CASIO choose to open patents through IPHatch rather than license them directly or keep them dormant?
Many multinational corporations invest heavily in R&D, and that leaves them with extensive patent portfolios. Some technologies are actively commercialised, but others may no longer fit the company’s core priorities, even though they still have commercial potential.
Keeping these patents dormant offers limited strategic value. Companies still bear maintenance costs without generating returns from those assets. IPHatch provides a proactive way to identify entrepreneurs who can find new markets or applications that the original patent owners may not have pursued internally.
Direct licensing also takes time, resources and market expertise. In many cases, large companies may not want to pursue opportunities outside their strategic focus, while startups that see the potential may not have the resources to access those technologies through conventional licensing channels.
Through IPHatch, startups take over responsibility for maintaining and commercialising the patents. For the IP originators, that can reduce costs while creating the possibility of licensing revenue, equity upside, partnerships and new commercial life for technologies that would otherwise remain unused.
You say winners receive “real IP ownership”. How does that work?
Winners receive outright ownership of the patent. Once matched, the IP is fully assigned to the startup, so they own it like any other company asset.
In exchange, startups provide an equity stake in their company, typically in the 5-10 per cent range, depending on how many patent portfolios they choose to take on. The more IP a startup wants to build on, the larger the stake.
With many applicants competing for a limited number of matches, what does IPHatch look for?
We evaluate startups against three criteria: the problem they are solving, the relevance of the IP, and the team’s ability to execute.
The strongest matches are those where the technology directly enables the solution and gives the startup a clear point of differentiation. We are not simply looking for interesting ideas. We want teams that can show why a specific patent is the right foundation for a particular problem, and how they plan to bring that solution to market.
Execution matters just as much. We look for founders who think commercially, stay grounded in real market needs, and can turn strong IP into a viable business.
How accessible is the programme for founders in markets, such as Vietnam, Indonesia, or the Philippines?
Founders in Vietnam, Indonesia, the Philippines and other Southeast Asian markets are very much part of this year’s and future cohorts. IPHatch does not require in-person presence to compete. Teams can pitch virtually instead of travelling to Hong Kong.
For localisation, we work with ecosystem partners, incubators and accelerators across Southeast Asia. That includes support for market access, introductions to local partners and customers, and access to facilities or co-working spaces where available.
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Many Southeast Asian founders join IPHatch when they are ready to expand beyond their home markets. At that point, we provide introductions, ecosystem connections and support to help them enter new markets and build strategic partnerships.
Once a startup is matched with a patent, what does the first year look like?
We do not impose a fixed timeline. Every startup has different product roadmaps and priorities. In many cases, the patent may only become relevant during phase two or phase three of MVP or product development.
Usually, the startup’s CTO or technical team reviews the patent in detail to determine how the underlying technology can be integrated into an existing product or used for a new one. Several of our startups have later filed new patents to protect enhancements or end-to-end solutions built on the original technology.
The original patent holders do not provide hands-on technical support. Piece Future runs technical translation workshops led by our IP engineers to help startups understand the patents and identify practical implementation opportunities. For startups that need direct technology transfer from inventors or patent owners, we run a separate programme called TechHatch.
How does the support structure differ from a typical three- to six-month accelerator?
We provide mentorship, market access, and IP strategy support. We work with governments, universities, incubators, and accelerators across more than 10 locations globally to help startups expand into new markets, build partnerships, and connect with customers, corporations and ecosystem players.
We do not provide direct funding, but we have a network of venture capital firms that follow our startups. We facilitate introductions when the company reaches the right stage and fits an investor’s thesis.
IPHatch is not a typical accelerator. Most accelerators focus on rapid validation, growth and investor readiness, usually ending with a demo day. IPHatch is a five-year IP commercialisation and venture-building platform. The support changes based on each startup’s business needs, technology maturity and growth trajectory.
Can you share an example of a dormant MNC patent becoming part of a commercial product?
Dresio is one example. It operates in musculoskeletal healthcare and uses computer vision to track body alignment and movement, helping clinicians make more objective assessments using data-driven insights and AI models.
Dresio was assigned patents from Nokia and Panasonic through IPHatch. The Nokia patent focuses on organising and retrieving dynamic content, allowing users to save, tag and search related data through intelligent markers. For Dresio, that supports the management and processing of large volumes of musculoskeletal images and movement data.
As Dresio expands into a broader wellness platform, it has also used Panasonic patents related to physiological information analysis. One patent describes a computer-based method that measures blood flow in multiple body parts and analyses the relationship between those measurements to estimate conditions such as stress, circulation, fatigue or overall health status.
Is the patent pool skewed towards hardware and deeptech, or can agritech and fintech founders also find a path in?
We have a growing portfolio of data, AI training, data management, and cybersecurity-related patents. These are among the most sought-after areas because they apply across multiple industries.
We are sector agnostic. We have agritech and fintech companies using patents in cybersecurity, data management, tracking and recognition technologies. Foundational technologies can be adapted across different sectors and use cases.
We also offer Portfolio X, which is designed for founders who do not want to pick from a fixed list. They can bring their business idea or problem, and we help match it against patents in our IP bank.
Is there a financial cost to founders, and what happens if the startup fails to commercialise the patent?
There is no fee to apply for or participate in IPHatch during the selection process. If a startup is matched with a patent, Piece Future works with the team to structure a commercial agreement based on the technology and business opportunity.
If a startup is unable to commercialise the IP, the outcome is governed by the terms of that agreement. The objective is to give founders the best opportunity to succeed while ensuring the IP continues to be managed responsibly.
Do you see this model changing how startups in Asia think about R&D?
One misconception is that every founder needs to invent a new technology to build a successful company.
Not every innovator is an inventor, and not every inventor becomes an innovator. Inventors create new technologies. Innovators create value by applying technologies to real-world problems.
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There are thousands of patented technologies that represent years of R&D but remain underutilised because they no longer fit the patent holder’s current roadmap. Founders should ask not only, “What can I invent?” but also, “What valuable technology already exists, and how can I apply it to solve a real problem?”
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