Transfer of university patents and its impact on follow-on invention

Seokbeom Kwon

Science and Public Policy, 2024, vol. 51, issue 3, 450-462

Abstract: This study examines the effects of granting firms exclusive rights to use university inventions on the creation of follow-on inventions. By analyzing a dataset of transferred patents from research universities to firms in the USA between 2000 and 2013, we find that allowing firms to exclusively utilize university inventions through patent transfers leads to an increase in follow-on inventions among patent nonrecipients. However, we find no evidence of an impact on the patent recipient’s follow-on inventions. Our analysis also shows evidence of a positive impact of the transfer of patents on government-funded inventions on the rate of follow-on inventions by nonrecipients of the university patents. This research contributes to the ongoing debate regarding the necessity of granting firms the exclusive right to use university knowledge to foster innovation.

Keywords: patent transfer; government-funded research; university invention; tragedy of anticommons (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2024
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:oup:scippl:v:51:y:2024:i:3:p:450-462.

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