INNOVATION AND ACADEMIA — IPR OWNERSHIP IN THE UK
Year: 2015
Editor: Guy Bingham, Darren Southee, John McCardle, Ahmed Kovacevic, Erik Bohemia, Brian Parkinson
Author: Hillner, Matthias; Haberman, Mandy; Soetendorp, Ruth
Series: E&PDE
Institution: 1Royal College of Art, London, University of Hertfordshire, Hatfield, 2Intellectual Property Awareness Network (IPAN), London
Section: Innovation
Page(s): 444-449
ISBN: 978-1-904670-62-9
Abstract
This paper discusses Intellectual Property Right (IPR) ownership issues in conjunction with academic
spinouts and start-ups. The changes in the funding structure of graduate and postgraduate studies has
led to a culture shift in the budget management of British universities. Third-income streams are more
highly rated in the UK than ever, and ‘with the growth of the student enterprise agenda the issue of
management of student IP will become increasingly significant’ [1]. Commonly academic institutions claim ownership over IPRs, which evolve from postgraduate
academic studies. The majority of revenues tend to go to the academic institution. This is usually
justified through the supervisory involvement and the provision of technical resources. This paper
discusses the implications, which the retention of IPR has for the success prospects of academic
spinouts. Academic Institutions differ in their approach to regulating IPR ownership. Mandy Haberman and
Professor Ruth Soetendorp presented a comparative study of academic regulations to the Intellectual
Property Awareness Network (IPAN) in 2014. The paper proposed here builds on their comments as
well as those obtained from various subject experts through semi-structured interviews. The paper will
further discuss the implication of third-party ownership in relation to the development of innovative
spinouts. Counter-productive arrangements in relation to IPR ownership made by academic
institutions may not only affect the individual graduate or postgraduate student, they may also affect
the UK economy, in that they can stifle innovation.
Keywords: Innovation, management, intellectual property, start-up, graduates, academia