April 20, 2001
Intellectual Property Continued Focus of National Academies
The growth of intellectual property within academic institutions and its implications for research, commerce, and the public's perception of universities was the topic of a workshop by the National Academies in Washington, D.C. on April 17. The workshop, which included leaders from academia and industry and notable scholars in science and technology policy, was sponsored by the National Academy of Science's Board on Science, Technology, and Economic Policy (STEP) as part of its ongoing examination of intellectual property rights in a knowledge based economy. Meeting participants reported there continues to be enormous growth in the number of patents and other types of university-owned intellectual property (IP) and an increase in the types of arrangements for disseminating inventions of university-based research. These include, in addition to traditional exclusive and non-exclusive licensing of patents, universities' acceptance of equity in start-up or other firms in exchange for license to use patented information. Biomedical sciences are notably in the forefront of research generating many of these arrangements.
The emerging role of universities as prominent actors - or some would say competitors - in the knowledge-based economy bears profound implications for the public's perception of academic institutions and may lead to reassessment of programs supporting research at academic institutions or the policies and regulations governing such research programs.
Gene Bauer, M.D., vice president for medical affairs at Stanford University and former dean of Stanford University School of Medicine, emphasized concerns for the appearance of conflicts of interest on the part of individuals or institutions who conduct research and who also may have a proprietary interest in some aspect of that research. Dr. Bauer stressed the main point is to establish procedures for defining and addressing conflicts of interest that are transparent to the public. His concerns were echoed at the conclusion of the workshop by Scott Giles, deputy chief of staff to the House Science Committee, who listed conflicts of interest as a particular concern of Congress.
Although academic institutions are perceived by industry and government as prominent participants in the commercialization of research, workshop participants from academic institutions made clear that patenting and licensing continue to play only partial, and relatively minor roles, in the ongoing mission and activities of these institutions. In surveys of academic institutions presented by a panel moderated by economist Bronwyn Hall of the University of California, Berkeley, patenting of research inventions remains a lesser priority of institutions' research programs. Few university-held patents become commercially successful, and royalty revenues from patent licenses remain a small fraction of university incomes, not even meriting, in the case of at least one leading research university, a separate line in the institution's annual financial report.
Information: Steve Heinig, AAMC Division of Biomedical and Health Sciences Research, 202-828-0488.
