Is patenting of technical inventions in university sectors impeding the flow of scientific knowledge to the public? a case study of South Africa

Abstract

There is growing pessimism among certain academics and policy scholars that the conduct of innovation-related activities (e.g., patenting, transfer, and commercialization of scientific or technological development) may be hampering the production and dissemination of public science. This paper investigates whether the production of scientific articles while concurrently patenting technical inventions can be mutually supportive. In an analysis of 70 patents obtained from the USPTO, EPO, and WIPO, for inventions or co-inventions by scientists employed by South African universities from 1994–2006, 58 patents (82%) overlapped, i.e., formed pairs with scientific articles. We found that authors tended to patent and publish simultaneously, so the same intellectual work informed both products. Our findings could be used to promote university-industry technology in many innovation systems.