Grace,gold, or glory? Exploring incentives for invention disclosure in the university context

What motivates university scientists to identify practical applications for their research results and consider having them patent-protected? A wealth of research points towards a complex blend of factors, including organizational antecedents, social norms and personal-level expectations. Few studies, however, have attempted to investigate the effect of concrete incentives from the perspective of individual scientists’ decision-making. In this paper, we operationalize the propensity to patent and commercialize research results as the intention to submit an invention disclosure filing. We use scenario-based conjoint analysis to capture university scientists’ preference structures for different incentive policies. Results indicate that direct and indirect financial incentives are dominant drivers. In addition, a grace period that would allow for patenting and publishing in parallel and the inclusion of patents in academic performance assessments are worth considering, whereas the specific setup of the technology transfer organization and public recognition of achievements in form of an award appear to have limited effect. However, preferences for incentives and hence their effectiveness vary significantly across academic disciplines and ranks as well as with scientists’ working experience, patenting experience and research orientation. On this basis, we can derive more qualified recommendations for incentive system design.     

国家资助项目职务发明权利配置的法经济探析

国家资助项目中职务发明权利配置面临诸多法律法规与行政规章的规范竞合,其规范适用效果须以其能否有效促进其职务发明权利流转为判定基准,其效率价值实现有赖增进其职务发明权利流转、减小其交易成本、确保利益受损者获得有效补偿,完善其有关制度安排须明晰其职务发明权属的法定范围,完备其职务发明人的优先申请、优先受让与优先实施专利等法定权利,强化其职务发明人的法定义务。     

Inventing and patenting activities of scientists: in the expectation of money or reputation?

We propose that scientists use patents/invention disclosures as signals to gain reputation than financial benefits. Based on a newly created dataset on the commercial activities among 2,500 scientists affiliated with 67 institutes of the German Max Planck Society, we explore the relation between the expectations of scientists concerning the outcomes of commercial activities and the likelihood of their patenting and disclosure behaviors. We find that expectation of gaining financial benefits are not related with the patenting activities of scientists without industrial cooperation. Instead, their expectation to gain/increase reputation through commercial activities is correlated with their patenting and disclosures activities. This may in turn also increase the possibility to gain academic promotion, financial benefits through industrial collaboration etc., rather than the immediate personal financial gains.     

The growth of China’s technology transfer industry over the next decade: implications for global markets

China has moved mightily over the last 30 years to increase its capacity to develop indigenous technology to invigorate its industrial base and shift it from the world’s factory to the world’s developer and manufacturer of products. To achieve this requires buttressing an emerging intellectual property system, increasing university research while encouraging scientists to patent and commercialize their discoveries. Additionally, the development of a functioning and agile venture capital system to invest in these new technologies, coupled with liquid equity markets for consummating IPO’s have been developed in record time. Will these remarkable efforts be sufficient to allow China to dominate the technology transfer market domestically or internationally over the next 10 years? The conclusions are twofold: on one hand, China undoubtedly will become the world’s largest customer for technology transfers both domestically and internationally, but global leadership in new technology development and licensing from research institutions is unlikely to be achieved over the next 10 years. Foreign firms, especially those within the US or with strong ties to the US are most likely to dominate this sector due to the US’s comprehensive university network coupled with its well established IP technology transfer industry.     

An exploration of the “Spinback” phenomenon

This paper examines nine cases of “spinback,” the flow back to laboratories of technical advantage from technology transfer activities. The benefits revealed in the cases are discussed and assessed for their value to the participating laboratories and the scientists involved. The objective of this study was to explore and test the feasibility of undertaking a comprehensive study of the value of spinback in order to encourage support for technology transfer activities by middle management in a laboratory. Spinback is defined as the phenomenon by which scientists’ and engineers’ participation in technology utilization activities results in a technically valuable flow back to their laboratories or organizations, thereby increasing or improving techical capability. It was anticipated that this exploration would provide evidence that the phenomenon does occur, with important consequences for the organization.     

Influences of return migration on international collaborative research networks: cases of Japanese scientists returning from the US

The emigration of scientists facilitates the formation of international networks. However, are ties in such networks maintained after the scientists return to their respective home countries? Using data from the Web of Science, this paper analyzes whether Japanese migrant scientists returning from the US maintain the collaborative research network ties that they formed during their stay in the US and, if so, what features of these ties contribute to maintaining these relationships. The geographical distance between the US and Japan can impede the transfer of knowledge that is transmitted most effectively through face-to-face interactions. However, social proximity may compensate for geographical distance. Accordingly, the ties that Japanese scientists have formed with other Japanese scientists living in the US are more likely to be maintained than the ties that they have formed with scientists of different ethnicities. Social proximity was also measured by past experiences in collaborative research. The ties to scientists with whom Japanese scientists collaborated more frequently or co-produced papers with higher citation counts are more likely to be maintained after the scientists return to Japan. When collaborative research of American and Japanese scientists is worthwhile, they obtain mutual benefits through a ‘give and take’ in which they compensate for one partner’s lack of knowledge by the other partner’s knowledge. In a research field with which the developmental gap between the US and Japan is great, ties are less likely to be maintained.     

Patents impediment or expedient to technology transfer

This paper examines the role that patents play in transferring technology. The history of our patent system and the requirements for patentability are reviewed. The option of keeping an invention as a trade secret rather than applying for a patent is presented. The paper also discusses the rationale behind the government’s change in its policy which permits exclusive licensing of public-owned patents. The author concludes that patents are not a barrier but a significant help in promoting technology transfer.     

高智发明模式的价值链分析与启示

高智发明公司作为新型的专门经营发明业务的公司,目前已基本形成其内部价值链,而关于发明的稳固的产业价值链尚未形成,价值链与产业、市场密不可分,高智发明的经营模式启示我们建立一个发明资本市场.虽然目前仍存在包括专利海盗在内的诸多障碍,但建立发明资本市场是一个必然趋势.     

法律规制视野下的劳动者休假权——以节日文化与钟点时间的历史演进为进路

自机械钟表发明以来，钟点时间（clocktime）日益深入地影响了劳动者个人及其家人的身体作息。伴随着工厂制度和劳动力受雇用情况的出现，时间变成了金钱，变成了雇主的金钱。劳动者身体受到时间无所不在的牵制，也开始变成一个俗常的行为。特别是20世纪初以来，劳动者基本权利之演进和劳动者工作时间之人性化探讨，又不断彰显其在法律体系中的重要意义。因此，以节日文化的法律规制之历史演进为研究进路，研究在钟点时间（clocktime）的规约下，调整劳动法律关系出现的原因，从政治、经济特别是法律文化的视域，阐述节假日功能与劳动者休假权保护的多元商谈价值及其法理基础，就有了一种特别的人文关怀。     

Who Develops a University Invention? The Impact of Tacit Knowledge and Licensing Policies

In this paper, I propose a theoretical model to illustrate how the inventor know-how affects whether the inventor starts a firm to develop her idea or licenses an invention to an established firm for development. Inventor start-ups are characterized as development organizations that serve a temporary role in the invention–innovation process, developing an invention until they can sell the developed invention to an established firm that owns requisite complementary assets for commercialization. This model is then used to analyze the role and impact of a university technology transfer office (TTO) on this process to understand how TTO’s may both positively and negatively impact the transaction. The model posits a general theory of inventor–entrepreneur behavior in university and corporate research labs based on two factors: the importance of know-how and the distribution of inventors’ personal costs to transfer that know-how.     

Patent-based investment funds: from invention to innovation

In the context of entrepreneurial ecosystems the transformation of inventions to innovations is a crucial measure of success. Yet, the exploitation of inventions stemming from academic or corporate research is not as extensive as we would wish leaving room for improvements. Drawing on the knowledge spillover theory of entrepreneurship we investigate the phenomenon of patent-based investment funds as a new type of intermediary in the knowledge spillover process, which could facilitate the transformation from invention to innovation. Using a qualitative research design we analyze data from 21 expert interviews and complementary archival data. We find common characteristics of funds’ activities which decrease knowledge filters and fill the financing gap in the early stages of technology development. We propose a classification of commercialization strategies and link them to a specific set of invention characteristics. Our insights contribute to the knowledge spillover theory of entrepreneurship and to the knowledge filter model by providing empirical evidence for the division of labor between knowledge creator and commercialization agent. This adds to our view on entrepreneurial ecosystems as we shed light on different players in the transition process from invention to innovation and thus enhance our understanding of the multifaceted aspects in such an ecosystem. In addition, we refine the literature on patent-based investment funds by providing a classification of the entire commercialization spectrum used by funds and add to extant theorizing on how the nature of a technology determines its commercialization.

     

Industry/University Licensing: Characteristics, Concerns and Issues from the Perspective of the Buyer

The authors previously explored invention licensing from the university's perspective. In this paper we focus on the process from the perspective of firms activity engaged in licensing technology. A survey of industry licensing professionals addresses why some firms license technologies from universities and why others do not. The paper then considers the stage of development of university technologies, the characteristics of their licensing contracts, and sources of information about university technologies, all to better understand how the process works and what advantages and disadvantages it offers to all participants.     

Innovation capital

In this paper we compare the relationship between a firm’s innovation capital and the likelihood that a firm will commercialize an invention. Our index of innovation capital is the product of the firm’s human capital, social capital, and reputational capital. We find from our empirical experiment, which uses Small Business Innovation Research data, that innovation capital is a statistically more important entrepreneurial input to the innovation output of commercialization than any of its components.     

Capturing Technological Opportunity Via Japan's Star Scientists: Evidence from Japanese Firms' Biotech Patents and Products

Using detailed data on biotechnology in Japan, we find that identifiable collaborations between particular university star scientists and firms have a large positive impact on firms' research productivity, increasing the average firm's biotech patents by 34 percent, products in development by 27 percent, and products on the market by 8 percent as of 1989–1990. However, there is little evidence of geographically localized knowledge spillovers. In early industry formation, star scientists holding tacit knowledge required to practice recombinant DNA (genetic engineering) were of great economic value, leading to incentives motivating their participation in technology transfer. In Japan, the legal and institutional context implies that firm scientists work in the stars' university laboratories in contrast to America where the stars are more likely to work in the firm's labs. As a result, star collaborations in Japan are less localized around their research universities so that the universities' local economic development impact is lessened. Stars' scientific productivity is increased less during collaborations with firms in Japan as compared to the U.S.     

Entrepreneurship and University Licensing

Outside invention has gained in importance as universities are actively seeking commercialization of their inventions since the passage of the Bayh-Dole Act. The paper analyzes the incentives to invent for outside and inside inventors. It is shown that outside inventors have greater incentives to invent than incumbents. Outside inventors can always fully appropriate the gains from invention irrespective of market structures and firm behaviour. Moreover, outside invention prompts incumbents to commercialize an invention in contrast to inside invention. Embryonic inventions could best be commercialized by new enterprises due to the uncertainty of their outcomes. Cooperative invention could boost consumer welfare but constitutes a lackluster incentive to invent.     

Conflict between entrepreneurship and open science, and the transition of scientific norms

In the trend of academic entrepreneurship, practical and direct contribution of university research to the society has been emphasized, in which university scientists have increasingly engaged in commercial activities, university-industry relationships, and technology transfers. However, this trend has aroused concern about a potentially negative impact on the tradition of open science. Drawing on a survey data of 698 Japanese natural scientists, this study analyzes the behaviors and norms of university scientists under the influence of university interventions for entrepreneurship, whereby examining the compatibility between entrepreneurship and open science. The results indicate that entrepreneurial interventions have facilitated scientists?? norm for practical contribution, and consequently, their involvement in commercial activities and ties with industry. Then, some, but not all, of these entrepreneurial activities have deterred cooperative or open relationships between scientists. However, the results suggest that the entrepreneurial interventions have not deteriorated the traditional norm for open science. Further analyses indicate that the two norms for practical contribution and for open science are determined independently, implying that academic entrepreneurship can be promoted without deteriorating open science.     

Shaping the path to inventive activity: the role of past experience in R&D alliances

In this paper, we investigate a recurrent organizational event—R&D strategic alliances—and analyze its multidimensional effect on inventive activity; in particular, we examine the quality of the inventive process outcome. In so doing, we address the still-unresolved issue of the impact of past experience in explaining performance differences between firms in the realm of alliance inventiveness. Our results offer new insights concerning the crucial drivers of invention quality and technological breakthroughs. As expected, results suggest that—in the area of R&D—alliances formed by experienced partners are more likely to produce inventions that effectively synthesize technological knowledge from more diverse domains. In fact, experienced alliance partners are more likely to generate useful inventions with a greater innovative impact on others’ subsequent inventions—knowledge that can be built upon. Surprisingly, results are indeterminate with regard to whether innovation via R&D alliance increases invention’s degree of applicability across diverse scientific and technological fields that might cite its patent.     

Technology transfer in a diversified, Global Manufacturing Company

Technology transfer is one manifestation of a corporate culture of innovation at 3M that includes elements of reward and recognition, emphasis on communication and a toleration of mistakes as learning experiences, not occasions for punishment. Within this context, the company's microreplication technology offers an example of what can be accomplished. The technology involves making microscopic changes to the surface of materials, which influence their behavior. It was developed in the 1960s to produce the lightweight and inexpensive plastic fresnel lenses that made possible the first economical overhead projectors for classroom and business use. Since then, many additional applications have been discovered. These include brightness-enhancement films for laptop computer screens, brighter reflective materials for highway safety, super-abrasives for microfinishing of precision metal parts and even a mechanical fastener for disposable diapers. Many additional applications are anticipated as the company's scientists continue to refine their understanding of the technology.     

“Great Men,” Law,and the Social Construction of Technology

Is Alexander Graham Bell's fame owed to law and lawyers? Two recent histories argue that some popular tales of invention originated with lawyers and judges as part of patent litigation battles (Stathis Arapostathis and Graeme Gooday , Patently Contestable: Electrical Technologies and Inventor Identities on Trial in Britain [2013]; Christopher Beauchamp , Invented by Law: Alexander Graham Bell and the Patent That Changed America [2015]). Bringing law into the historical project of understanding the social construction of technology, the authors unsettle “great man” narratives of invention. A tale of a recent patent war is a case study in the persistence of such narratives, highlighting the uses of legal storytelling (Ronald K. Fierstein , A Triumph of Genius: Edwin Land, Polaroid, and the Kodak Patent War [2015]). Together, these works invite consideration of the cultural power possessed by invention origin stories, the role of narratives in law and history, and the judicial performance of truth finding in Anglo‐American law .     

Assassination: Targeting Nuclear Scientists

Since 2007, five scientists involved in Iran’s nuclear program have been killed under mysterious circumstances. This is not the first time that nuclear scientists have come under direct attack. Scientists are legally civilians. Like the rest of us, they are protected by laws prohibiting murder and perfidious killing, and enjoy civilian immunity during wartime. Moreover, powerful moral arguments oppose assassination policies specifically. Nevertheless, contemporary theories of just war allow for the partial extension of combatant status to civilians who are either threatening or responsible for unjust threats. Weapons manufacturers, their factories and employees, are accorded less than absolute protection within just war theory, and even under international law. Dramatic events compel us to think through these issues of political violence in a principled manner, whatever our particular views on the Iranian case may be. The various moral arguments against assassination on the one hand and the complex status of munitions workers on the other suggest that scientists involved in weapons manufacturing may in some cases be morally liable to direct harm, as well as being legally liable to proportionate collateral damage.