Postdoc Servitude in the Academic-Industrial Alliance

Abstract

Postdocs and graduate students generally do not accrue any of the wealth their work can generate through the intellectual property of patents and copyrights. This topic, although not covered in the special issue “Postdocs working for respect” (3 Sept., p. 1513), is one to be aware of, considering the great riches being created from the alliance between industry and academia. Intellectual property policies of educational institution seldom accommodate students of any kind ([1][1], [2][2]). Most policies are regulated by a written agreement that is based on the employer-employee relationship. But unlike faculty, postdocs and graduate students are not usually classified as employees in the allocation of intellectual property rights. Most graduate and postgraduate program materials do not discuss intellectual property policies ([2][2]); rather, postdocs and students discover them while conducting research, especially if they have participated in a potentially patentable invention. So despite their substantial contribution, postdocs and graduate students usually do not fare well in the affluence of the industry-academia alliance ([3][3]). There are many legal and ethical arguments that can be raised in support of participation of this group in the wealth that their work helps to create ([1][1]). Even if they are required, as are most faculty, to assign their inventions to their university, such agreements can be legally challenged ([2][2]), and a host of other legal precedents and ethical guidelines can be used to bolster their case ([1][1], [2][2]). Postdocs and graduate students may often seem like pawns in many of the academic games they must play. Although one can lament the growing dominance of industry's goal of creating wealth to academia's goal of creating knowledge, postdocs and graduate students should also get their just rewards and not merely be exploited as cheap labor. There are, of course, complex legal criteria for establishing sufficient participation to acquire rights in intellectual property ([2][2]). Because of the complexities involved in all aspects of this issue, educational institutions should provide legal and ethical counseling to their postdocs, students, and faculty for the equitable management of intellectual property rights ([1][1]), and postdoc and graduate student organizations should add intellectual property issues to their agendas. 1. [↵][4]1. L. J. Deftos , Scientist 8 (8 June 1998). 2. [↵][5]1. S. H. Patel , Indiana Law J. 71, 481 (1996). [OpenUrl][6][Web of Science][7] 3. [↵][8]1. S. R. Kulkarni , Hastings Law J. 47, 221 (1998). [OpenUrl][9] [1]: #ref-1 [2]: #ref-2 [3]: #ref-3 [4]: #xref-ref-1-1 View reference 1 in text [5]: #xref-ref-2-1 View reference 2 in text [6]: {openurl}?query=rft.jtitle%253DIndiana%2BLaw%2BJ.%26rft.volume%253D71%26rft.spage%253D481%26rft.genre%253Darticle%26rft_val_fmt%253Dinfo%253Aofi%252Ffmt%253Akev%253Amtx%253Ajournal%26ctx_ver%253DZ39.88-2004%26url_ver%253DZ39.88-2004%26url_ctx_fmt%253Dinfo%253Aofi%252Ffmt%253Akev%253Amtx%253Actx [7]: /lookup/external-ref?access_num=A1996TV71200007&link_type=ISI [8]: #xref-ref-3-1 View reference 3 in text [9]: {openurl}?query=rft.jtitle%253DHastings%2BLaw%2BJ.%26rft.volume%253D47%26rft.spage%253D221%26rft.atitle%253DHASTINGS%2BLAW%2BJ%26rft.genre%253Darticle%26rft_val_fmt%253Dinfo%253Aofi%252Ffmt%253Akev%253Amtx%253Ajournal%26ctx_ver%253DZ39.88-2004%26url_ver%253DZ39.88-2004%26url_ctx_fmt%253Dinfo%253Aofi%252Ffmt%253Akev%253Amtx%253Actx