Consumer-products giant Procter & Gamble Co. will donated more than 100 patents related to new ways of using paperboard in shipping materials to Western Michigan University, in a move that could benefit both groups, the Associated Press reports.

The patents involve ways of reducing the amount of paperboard used in shipping containers by strengthening the fibers. P&G; executives declined to put a dollar value on the patents, but said the technology could save the paperboard industry up to $500 million a year, AP reports.

The patents will be held by the school's Paper Technology Foundation. P&G; executives said the school should be able to refine and market the technology faster than their company can.

In turn, P&G; hopes to benefit from lower shipping costs if the technology is refined, as WMU collects patent royalties, AP reports.

This is the second major patent donation by P&G; to a university in the last six months. The company presented more than 40 patents related to injection molding to the Milwaukee School of Engineering.

Patent donations now represent an increasingly significant part of corporate giving. Last year, E.I. du Pont de Nemours & Co. (DuPont) gave patents worth an estimated $64 million to three universities, and Hoechst Research and Technology gave patents estimated at$12 million to Clemson University.

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