2018 Volume 14 Issue 2 Pages 2_21-2_30
The purpose of this study was to assess the effectiveness of exclusive patent ownership by universities ("solo patents") in promoting efficient collaboration between universities and industry. Using publicly available data, I tested the hypothesis that "to support the commercialization of university research results through collaboration between universities and industry, universities should own solo patents in the respective research fields."
The results revealed no simple pattern whereby universities that gained substantial revenue from industry tended to have obtained such solo patents. However, in most cases considered to illustrate successful collaboration between universities and industry (as reported in the MEXT casebook published in 2007), solo patent ownership by the respective universities was noted.
In addition, some examples are reported in which successful universities utilized solo patents as a means to initiate collaborative research with industrial partners in a strategic manner. It is possible that the obtaining of solo patents by universities will play a role in the commercialization of university research results.
