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Category Archives: Policy
Equity Policies and Ownership Policies, Part II
Part I is here. The shift from equity to ownership in university patent polices reflects a substantial change in the approach to innovation. An equity based policy does not require a claim of ownership. It is based on the circumstances … Continue reading
Posted in Metrics, Policy, Technology Transfer
2 Comments
Equity Policies and Ownership Policies, Part I
In 1962, the dominant concept addressed in university patent policies was that of “equity” in inventions. By 2012, fifty years later, equity has largely vanished from these policies, replaced by “ownership.” In 1962 most universities did not have a patent … Continue reading
The Hairball Theory of Ownership
Buried in a University of Washington web site on information technology, one encounters this statement: Except as noted by an agreement, a law, or a University policy (such as copyright policy), the UW owns all data and records, and all … Continue reading
Posted in IP, Policy
Tagged hairball, public record, University of Washington, Washington State University
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Hope of Better Things
Vannevar Bush (1949) [emphasis added]: The real reason we made such great progress was not bright inventors or clever gadgets. It was the fact that we had thousands of men who understood the underlying science in the field, who skillfully … Continue reading
Posted in History, Innovation, Literature, Policy
Tagged Science the Endless Frontier, Vannevar Bush
1 Comment
Patent Policies of Confidence, and Patent Policies of Fear
Vannevar Bush, writing in the introduction to Modern Arms and Free Men (1949): This is not a history of what science did in the war; that has already been written. It is an attempt to explore its meaning in the … Continue reading
Posted in Freedom, History, Innovation, Policy
1 Comment
University startups, exits, and candor
The most recent Pitchbook has some interesting information on private equity exits. If university administrators have been sold on the idea that there’s fast cash in startup company equity, there are also data to dampen administrative spirits. The Pitchbook identifies … Continue reading
Posted in Bozonet, Metrics, Policy
Tagged exit, loyal opposition, Pitchbook, startup, University of Washington
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The long, slow 180 degree turn
I have spent the past few weeks working through 130 patent policies at US universities, circa 1962. I have compiled a set of notes that runs to 100 pages, and another set of notes that are notes on the notes–2nd … Continue reading
Posted in History, Policy, Technology Transfer
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400 reasons to consider alternatives to the now standard model
The National Science Foundation has kept track of university expenditures on research in a detailed way since 1972. The figures for 2011 include expenditures of $65b across all fields, from all sources of funding, with 912 universities reporting. Nearly $35b … Continue reading
Posted in Policy, Technology Transfer
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What the university doing research was built for
[update 9/2/2016. I’ve rebuilt the middle section of this article to do a better job with the numbers. I built a little model in Excel and have included snapshots from it in the text. Once the model is in better … Continue reading
Posted in Metrics, Policy, Technology Transfer
1 Comment
University patent policies then and now
Some patent policies in effect in 1962, with the date of most recent revision. From the preamble to the New Mexico State University research and patent policy, 1960: Discoveries and inventions which appear as a natural product of original work … Continue reading