Negative effects of university patenting: Myths and grounded evidence

This paper reviews the literature on the concerns stemming from university patenting and licensing activities. Scholars investigated threats to scientific progress due to increasing disclosure restrictions; changes in the nature of the research (declining patents’ and publications’ quality, skewing research agendas toward commercial priorities, and crowding-out between patents and publications); diverting energies from teaching activity and reducing its quality. A small section explores problems lamented by industry. Each of these issues is presented and discussed, based on 82 papers published from 1980 to 2006. Some suggestions for further research conclude the essay.

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