Julien Pénin

On the Consequences of Patenting University Research: Lessons from a Survey of French Academic Inventors

This paper focuses on the consequences of patenting university research. It presents the results of a survey on 280 French academic inventors, that is, French university professors who are also designated as inventors in at least one European patent. This survey provides new insights into the effect of university patenting on the commercialization of university inventions, the transfer of scientific research, the incentives to do basic research and the access to upstream knowledge. In particular, the study suggests that patenting university research can, on the one hand, facilitate the transfer of technology from university to industry, especially in the fields of life sciences and pharmaceuticals. On the other hand, it almost systematically delays the publication of research findings, thus hindering the dissemination of scientific knowledge.

Start-Up Creation in Biotechnology: Lessons from the Case of Four New Ventures in the Upper Rhine Biovalley

This paper explores start-up creation in biotech through an in-depth analysis of four new ventures located in the Upper Rhine Biovalley. This analysis helps us discuss the role of several factors in the performance of a new biotech firm. The study specifically outlines three elements, namely: the importance of public science, without which new biotech firms cannot exist; the role of the patent system, which impacts the business model adopted by the firm; and the importance of collaborations, which we study through the concept of distributed entrepreneurship.

Proactive versus reactive motivations for patenting and their impact on patent production at universities

This paper deals with patenting behaviours of university researchers and distinguishes between two motivations that academic scientists may adopt when dealing with patents: a proactive one, where scientists are patent enthusiastic and a reactive one, where scientists are more reluctant to patent, even if they might be forced to do that anyway. We use an original dataset on 173 French academic inventors (in life sciences and electronics and engineering sciences) in order to test whether the scientist’s motivations to patent affect the number of patents she invents. Our econometric results indicate that a very positive perception of university patenting or a reported willingness to perform patentable research does not lead to more invented patents. Conversely, past patenting experiences seem to matter a lot: academic inventors, who already experienced successful technology transfer due to patents, are more likely to invent patents. Some slight differences emerge across scientific disciplines.

Patents and Innovation: Are the Brakes Broken, or How to Restore Patents’ Dynamic Efficiency?

The standard view of patents emphasizes their dynamic efficiency. It considers that, by providing firms with incentives to invest in R&D and to disclose their knowledge, patents encourage innovation and increase social welfare in the long run. Yet, a growing body of literature opposes this view and asks for patent reform or even for the abolition of the patent system. In this work, which reviews the most recent literature on patents, we show that patents can have a negative impact on the dynamics of innovation. This is not due to some intrinsic properties of the patent system but to some of its recent evolutions which mean that, nowadays, too many patents are granted and that patent information is bad. The combination of those two elements explains most of the problems induced by modern patent systems such as hold-up (patent trolls), anti-commons (royalty stacking), and high transaction costs in markets for technology. We conclude by showing that realistic reforms can solve those problems and ensure that the patent system becomes again an instrument of dynamic efficiency.

The ambivalence of the local practices of patenting within the BioValley network

The production of novelty is more and more rooted in collective processes of interactions based on moving, heterogeneous networks involving new biotech firms, public research centers and big pharma companies. Patenting strategies have been investigated in a survey conducted within the BioValley network. While many firms do not consider patents as efficient in terms of protection, and often favor, for that purpose, secrecy, technological advance, trademark or complementary assets, the results imply that firms use patents as strategic tools devoted to different aims. One is to exclude rivals and create income from innovations. Another aim is that patents are seen as coordination tools, involved in the processes of diffusion and collective creation of knowledge, favoring interactions and facilitating the identification of potential partners.

Strategic management and the economics of the firm

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to argue for the need to reconcile managerial and economic approaches of the firm. Strategic management seems to be the perfect playground for this.Design/methodology/approach – The paper shows many divergences between the economic and managerial approach of the firm but also highlights many topics where both approaches come in handy.Findings – The authors underline the topics and theories in strategic management with the greatest benefits of mixing economics and management can be expected and they echo the papers in this special issue.Practical implications – The paper comes as a warning for those using only managerial perspective without listening to the caveats and ideas put forward by the economic approach of the firm.Originality/value – The paper offers an agenda of how economics and management could be reunited, and shows the relevance of doing so to both theory and practice.