Intellectual Property Rights and Academic Health Centers

Abstract

Academic Health Centers have become an increasingly important locus of inventive activity in biomedicine. The observed increase in patenting and li-censing activity taking place at AHCs has called attention to this phenomenon but has also raised questions about the impact on the creation and diffusion of important technologies and research tools. This paper explores the contributions of academic health centers in generating new medical technologies, addressing the ways in which intellectual property rights affect technological innovation and diffusion. The paper underscores the relevance of understanding important features of the innovative process, namely the nature and degree of uncertainly in technological change. The paper draws on patent data and case studies from Columbia and Stanford University to illustrate these issues and raises questions about the costs and benefits of various commercialization strategies and university patenting approaches.