Academic inventors and patent rights: structure of collaboration in academic patents and university patents in Brazil

Abstract

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to analyse the patenting activity of the Brazilian academic sector vis-à-vis the domestic business sector, taking into account the recent evolution of Brazil’s industrial policies. The paper differentiates between “university academic patents”, which are owned by the universities, and “non-university academic patents”, which despite being invented by academic staff are not owned by the universities. Design/methodology/approach The authors’ cross-checked information regarding the names of all inventors with Brazilian addresses in PCT patent applications in the Espacenet database with the names of researchers in the CVs available on the Lattes Platform of CNPq. The analysis specifically focussed on patent applications published in the PCT with Brazilian priority for the 2002-2012 period. Findings It was found that the Brazilian academic patents concentrate on science-based technology areas, especially in the Pharma Biotechnology domain. For a total of 466 patent applications with Brazilian priority in this field, 233 have academic inventors. Of those 233 academic applications, 66.1 per cent have universities as their owners, while the remaining 33.9 per cent are not owned by universities. Further, it was found that there are more Brazilian academic patents in the biotechnology sub-domain than those filed by the business sector. Research limitations/implications This research was based on the intersection of patent databases and the content available on the official curriculum base of Brazil (Lattes Platform, CNPq). Once the curricula information are voluntary, there are risks inherent reliability of this information. Practical implications This study allows us to identify more accurately which is the effective role of the Brazilian Academy in patents generation, revealing that a significant unaccounted deposits with personal inventors or companies’ ownership really have a academic contribution. Originality/value This paper shows that the academic sector plays a key role in Brazil’s international patenting activity, particularly in science-intensive technology domains, and it highlights the specific contribution of academic patents not owned by universities.