Research universities often invest heavily in retaining the services of cutting-edge medical and technological professors. They offer grants and other forms of support to undergrads and graduate students with unique research projects.
The goal is to promote research and establish a reputation that attracts many students and other academic professionals to the university. The research itself can become a source of revenue for the university if researchers successfully patent their concepts. While that may seem like a beneficial, even lucrative option for educational institutions, research indicates that it may not be as beneficial as administrators and researchers may hope.
Attempting to manage the patent process without appropriate support may lead to significant financial losses for colleges and universities.
Patent prosecution isn’t easy
Academic researchers helping to develop novel medicines or new technological concepts likely have minimal legal knowledge. Despite their clear expertise in a highly specialized area of research, the university may expect a researcher or professor to oversee patent prosecution for their new concepts or products instead of focusing on what they do best.
There are several issues with this practice. The first is that they take a well-compensated professional and divert their efforts away from their area of specialization. Universities lose the research and classroom time of professors and other academics who must participate in the patent prosecution process.
Additionally, having someone with limited legal knowledge manage the patent process may lead to delays in patent approval or even unsuccessful patent prosecution. Experts looking into this issue estimate that single colleges may lose millions of dollars annually by attempting to handle patent prosecution internally.
The solution in this scenario is clear. Institutions of higher education that have invested heavily in research and development in technology, medicine or bioengineering may want to partner with professionals who understand and can manage the patent prosecution process.
Doing so allows professors and other researchers to focus on what they do best. It may also increase the school’s chances of securing a patent and thereby obtaining a secondary source of revenue through patent licensing.
Having support when prosecuting a patent, renewing an existing patent and enforcing a patent can make a major difference for educational institutions that may have dedicated significant resources to research and development. The right assistance can help those with concepts and products that require legal protection.