Academic patenting in Europe: recent research and new perspectives

Francesco Lissoni DIMI-University of Brescia

& KITES-Bocconi University, Milan

APE-INV/TTFactor_IFOM-IEO/EPI workshop “Intellectual Property and Fundamental Research” at Bocconi University, Milan – June 9, 2011

Outline

1. What is academic patenting? Why are we interested?

2. Academic Patenting in Europe 1: A methodological novelty

3. Academic Patenting in Europe 2: Key findings (quantity and ownership)

4. Academic Patenting in Europe 3: Who are the academic inventors?

5. Questions for future research

What is academic patenting?

Academic patent = Patent signed by (at least one) academic scientist

University may/may not own the patent:- business companies - public research organizations & funding agencies likely owners- individual scientists

Key indicator for:- technology transfer activity- university-industry ties (collaboration, consultancy)- academic entrepreneurship- markets for technologies

What is academic patenting? (cont.)

University-invented vs. university-owned…

…it reflects institutional peculiarities of European countries:- professor’s privilege (Germany, Austria, Scandinavia…)- universities’ lack of managerial autonomy / expertise- high status (lack of control) of academic profession

… it has been the key for a recent & successful research programmeVerspagen B. (2006), “University Research, Intellectual Property Rights and European Innovation

Systems”, J. of Econ. Surveys 20/4: 607-632Lissoni F., P.Llerena, M.McKelvey, B.Sanditov (2008), “Academic Patenting in Europe: New Evidence

from the KEINS Database”, Research Evaluation 16: 87-102

APE1: Methodological noveltyTWO-STEP procedure:1. Reclassification of patents by inventor2. Name+matching between inventors and academic scientists Key issue: standardization of names & quality check

Raffo J., Lhuillery S. (2009), “How to play the “Names Game”: Patent retrieval comparing different heuristics”, Research Policy 38(10), pp. 1617 1627‐

NAME GAME WORKSHOP (2009): http://www.esf-ape-inv.eu/index.php?page=10#Paris 2009

Additional STEP:3. Survey work (homonimity & employment check; ad hoc questions)Collect matched professors-inventors’ emailsSubmit matched patents and ask:

1. Confirmation of inventorship2. Confirmation of academic status at the time of invention

1. Scientists in European universities produce many patents…… Relative to all domestic patents… Especially in science-based technologies

2. Most academic patents in Europe are owned by companies

3. Relative importance of other owners (universities, PROs, individuals..) depends upon:- role of PROs vs universities in the national science system- existence/abolition of the professor’s privilege- degree of autonomy of universities- technology (more university-ownership in life sciences)

APE2: Key findings (quantity & ownership)

Academic inventors in Denmark, France, Italy, the Netherlands, Sweden, and the UK; nr. and % over nr. of professors , 2005 (2008)

1 Data from checked professor-inventor matches (professors confirmed to be the inventors)2 All positively checked and unchecked records (records for which professors denied being the inventors are excluded)

14.7% 14.7% 18.2% 20.9%

33.4%

15.2%

18.7% 20.1% 15.5%17.3%

19.3%

23.0%

8.9%

25.3% 22.9% 11.3%

6.9%

17.7%

50.5%

28.1% 32.0% 42.3%31.3% 37.0%

7.3% 11.8% 11.4% 8.1% 9.1% 7.2%

0%

10%

20%

30%

40%

50%

60%

70%

80%

90%

100%

Denmark France Italy Netherlands Sweden UK

OTHERS

PHARMA-BIOTECH

CHEMISTRY-MATERIALS

INSTRUMENTS

ELECTRONIS

Technological distribution of academic patents, 1994-2001

Ownership of academic patents, various countries, 1994-2001

APPLICANTS PATs MAIN CLASSABB 151 Equipment and electrical machinesEricsson 114 TelecommunicationsPharmacia UpJohn 75 Pharmacology and cosmeticsAstraZeneca 40 Pharmacology and cosmeticsTelia 27 Information TechnologiesSiemens 25 Medical technologiesKarolinska 19 BiotechnologiesA & Science Invest 17 Pharmacology and cosmeticsSandvik 16 Materials, MetallurgyKvaerner Pulping 13 Materials treatment

Top ten owners of academic patents in Sweden, 1978-2003

APPLICANTS PATs MAIN CLASSCNRS 220 Biotech., Medical technologyINSERM 99 Biotech., Organic ChemistryTotal 72 Macromolecular Chemistry, Thermal ProcessesFrance Telecom 55 TelecommunicationsCea 52 Surface treatments, Materials, Metallurgy

Thales 45 Analysis, measure and control technologies, Telecommunications

Rhodia 40 Macromolecular Chemistry, Materials, Metallurgy

Universite Paris VI 42 BiotechnologiesAdir & Co. 38 Organic ChemistryInstitut Pasteur 38 Biotech., Organic Chemistry

Top ten owners of academic patents in France, 1978-2003

APPLICANTS PATs MAIN CLASS

ST-Microelectronicss 143 Semiconductors

CNR 111 Chemistry, Materials

ENI 97 Chemistry, Materials

Sigma-Tau 67 Chemistry, Materials

Ausimont 51 Chemistry, Materials

Telecom Italia Gruppo 33 Telecommunications

MIUR 26 Chemistry, Materials

Fidia Gruppo 21 Pharmacology, Biotechnologies

ARS Holding 19 Pharmacology, Biotechnologies

Optical Technologies 19 Equipment & electrical machines

Top ten owners of academic patents in Italy, 1978-2003

Top ten owners of academic patents - Netherlands, 1978-2003

APPLICANTS PATs MAIN CLASSPhilips 236 Electronics

Unilever 98 Pharmacology - Biotechnologies

Leiden University 73 Pharmacology - Biotechnologies

Utrecht University 43 Pharmacology - Biotechnologies

AKZO 43 Instrumentation and Pharmacology Biotechnologies

Delft University 42 Process Engineering

University of Groningen 32 Pharmacology - Biotechnologies

Stichting voor de technische wetenschappen (STW)

31 Instrumentation and Pharmacology Biotechnologies

Leadd (Leiden univ.) 23 Pharmacology - Biotechnologies

University of Amsterdam 22 Pharmacology - Biotechnologies

Top ten owners of academic patents in Denmark, 1978-2003

UK

Share of Academic patents on the country total in 5 European countries, 1995-2001; by techn. and country

Consumer goods; Civil engineering

Mechanical eng.; Machines; Transport

Industrial processes

Pharmaceuticals; Biotechnology

Chemicals; Materials

Instruments

Electrical engineering; Electronics

0% 5% 10% 15% 20% 25%

Sweden Netherlands Italy France Denmark

Policies pushing university to OWN more patents• Abolition of the professor’s priviledge

in Denmark: “swap” of individual- vs university-owned patents

• Bayh-Dole-Act-Like legislation Innovation Act in France: increase university-company co-ownership

Lissoni F., P.Lotz, J. Schovsbo, A. Treccani (2009) “Academic Patenting and the Professor’s Privilege: Evidence on Denmark from the KEINS database”, Science and Public Policy 36/8: 595-607

Della Malva A., Lissoni F., Llerena P. (2010) “Institutional Change and Academic Patenting: French Universities and the Innovation Act of 1999”, KITES Working Paper 29, Univ. Bocconi, Milano

Pause for thought: where do we go from here?

Economics of science & tech. transfer:- who are the academic inventors (incentives,

careers…)?- how good (or bad) is patenting for science?

Economics of IPRs:how valuable are academic patents? for their applicants for their licensees (how many)? for society at large (quality, nr …)

APE 3: Who are academic inventors?

1. Academic inventors’ standing in the scientific community: - Are they marginal or prominent scientists?- Is their inventive activity complementary, alternative, or

unrelated to their scientific research? academic inventors as scientists

2. How do they relate to other inventors outside the academy, and to other scientists within it? academics in the network of inventors

APE 3.1: Academic inventors’ standing in the scientific community

Academic inventors are highly productive scientists (fixed effect)

Scientific production is a good predictor of patenting activity (it is scientific results that get patented)

Patenting activity feeds back positively on scientific production (BUT endogeneity problems)

Gender bias

Mean publication rates per year, academic inventors vs controls; 1975-2003 (Italy)

0

0,5

1

1,5

2

2,5

3

3,5

1975

1976

1977

1978

1979

1980

1981

1982

1983

1984

1985

1986

1987

1988

1989

1990

1991

1992

1993

1994

1995

1996

1997

1998

1999

2000

2001

2002

2003

Inventors

Controls

* Dark (light) grey areas: inventor-control distribution difference 95 (.90) significant; Kolmogorov-Smirnov test** Obs. range from 148 in 1975 to 299 in 2000 (284 in 2003)source: elaborations on EP-INV-DOC database and ISI Science Citation Index

APE 3.2: Academics in the network of inventors: highly productive, mobile, and central

• Academic inventors are “mobile”, aka “multi-applicant” inventors• Academic inventors hold higher-than-average central positions in

networks of inventors• Central academic inventors act as “brokers” and “gatekeepers”

between other academics and industrial researchers central inventors are top scientists / senior figures

many ties (esp. with industrial researchers are maintained not for scientific collaboration, but info exchanges)

Key figures for knowledge diffusion?

Research on APE blends with research on inventors’ mobility and knowledge spillovers [same need of patent data at inventors’ level]

TECHNOLOGY N BCENT CCENT DCENT

Electrical engineering. Electronics All inv. 6459 0.0018 0.0833 4.3 Academic 99 0.0026 0.0809 5.4Instruments All inv. 4542 0.0025 0.0844 5.1 Academic 149 0.0069 0.0840 6.5Chemicals. Materials All inv. 9611 0.0008 0.1185 5.8 Academic 276 0.0018 0.1252 8.1Pharmaceuticals. Biotechnology All inv. 5213 0.0015 0.1180 5.8

Academic 232 0.0034 0.1216 7.0

Position of academic inventors in the main component (France)

BCENT= Avg betweenness centrality of inventors consideredCCENT= Avg closeness centrality of inventors consideredDCENT= Avg degree centrality of inventors considered

Ego-networks of Italian academic inventors: top brokers

Evidence from patent citations: ‘Importance’, ‘Basicness’ and ‘Generality’ of US university-owned

patents Mixed evidence for Europe:

Bacchiocchi & Montobbio (2009): no citation premium for university-owned patents

Czarnitzky et al (2008); citation premium to academic patents in Germany

Lissoni, Montobbio, Seri (2010): ownership matters!

APE 3.1: The values of academic patents

Ownership and citation pattern of academic patents (Lissoni, Montobbio, Seri, 2010)

Data:– 115,185 patents from Denmark, France, Italy, Netherlands,

Sweden (years: 1995-2001), of which: 5,019 academic patents (3,418: Company-owned)

– 184,566 forward citations and 293,254 backward citations from (and to) EPO patents from 1978 to 2001 (source: Patstat). We control for self-citations

Methodology• Survival analysis: event is the citation, duration is the citation lag:

n. of days between the citing and cited priority date

• OLS, Poisson, Zero Inflated Poisson, Negative Binomial on the number of four-year forward citations give very similar results

Explanatory variables• Academic patent dummy or Academic*Ownership dummy (Company,

University, Individual, or Government ownrship)• Countries and technologies (dummies)• Control variables: Co-patenting, Int’l Co-patenting, Foreign co-

inventorship, Nr of Claims

Econometric results: estimated coefficients(1) (2) (3) (4)

Academic inventor -0.04*(0.02)

- -0.02(0.02)

-

Company-owned - 0.01(0.02)

- 0.02(0.03)

Individually Owned - -0.09(0.07)

- 0.20**(0.06)

University Owned - -0.33***(0.07)

- -0.28***(0.07)

Government and PROs - -0.14**(0.05)

- -0.11*(0.05)

Control Variables N N Y Y

n= 200143; robust standard errors

DK FR IT NL SE

Company-owned

0.02(0.09)

0.06(0.03)

0.10*(0.04)

0.16*(0.08)

-0.21***(0.04)

IndividuallyOwned

0.35*(0.16)

0.31*(0.14)

0.21(0.11)

0.50*(0.11)

0.36**(0.12)

University Owned

-0.48(0.27)

-0.40***(0.12)

-0.40**(0.15)

-0.14(0.11)

0.06(0.16)

Government and PROs

-0.44(0.42)

-0.13*(0.06)

-0.16(0.15)

-0.08(0.12)

0.09(0.56)

Control Variables Y Y Y Y Y

n.obs 10940 88183 38664 33517 30819

Country-specific models

Academic patents owned by universities have lower impact than company-owned in a number of countries

• Does this result legitimate the ‘company-owned’ model?

• Or is it just the result of cherry-picking by companies?

• Do recent policies, that push universities to take more patents, make any sense?

Back to data:What do we need to go further?

Economics of science & tech. transfer:

what is the origin of academic patents (type of funding / research)?

more research on networks and mobility: affiliations and careers

Economics of IPRs:how valuable are academic patents? Better econometrics More measures (surveys)… claims, divisionals…

A big project on inventors: ESF-APE-INV, 2009-2013 1) creation of a European database on inventors studies on

mobility/networks2) identification of “academic inventors” (university staff who are

inventors) studies on technology transfer and networks2 workshops per yearAccess to data for all those who contribute Short/Long mobility grantsPartners (by now): KITES-Bocconi, ULB, KU Leuven, EPFL, Goteborg

Univ., Beta-Strasbourg, Ludwig-Maximilian Univ., CBS, CSIC and many others... Basically everybody is welcome!!!

Visit: www.academicpatenting.eu