University patenting and the quest for technology transfer policy models in Europe

Abstract

European universities have gradually taken a more aggressive stance towards IP appropriation. The policies behind these changes have been largely inspired in a linear model of university knowledge transfer and emulations of the US Bayh Dole Act. Our aim in this chapter is to highlight the heterogeneity of university technology transfer across European countries and the differences with respect to US universities, and describe the impact of policy changes, such as the abolition of the professor’s privilege, in the light of new data and evidence. We challenge the linear model of university technology transfer and show how complex the relations between the actors involved can be, as well as the role that patents play in those relations.