Intellectual property rights and the transfer of technology from university to industry

Abstract

Historically universities have seen themselves entirely as teaching organizations. They have seen their income coming from students’ fees, assisted by grants from government. These traditional sources of income are now under pressure and all colleges are looking for ways to exploit the valuable resources they have built up. Colleges are increasingly turning to contract research, campus companies and licensing of technology for extra sources of income. Since colleges are basically not in the business of manufacturing, the main method through which they must exploit their technology is by licensing; but licensing cannot effectively be carried out without protection. This article discusses such forms of protection and the safeguards which must be taken to make sure that commercial exploitation will actually take place.