Follow the (Industry) Money – The Impact of Science Networks and Industry-to-University Contracts on Academic Patenting in Nanotechnology and Biotechnology

Abstract

We investigated the factors influencing an academic's propensity to patent and the quality of patenting in nanotechnology and biotechnology. We found that a university researcher is more likely to be listed as an inventor of a patented innovation, regardless of the assignee, if he receives private funding, has a fairly high level of cliquishness in the scientific network and has shown a prior capacity to successfully collaborate with industry, a concept that we named innovation loops. Furthermore, citation rate and number of claims, which are used to represent patent quality, are influenced by factors similar to those explaining patent quantity.