Organizational Forms of University Technology Transfer in Biotechnology
Panel
Panel 7: Technology Transfer and the Role of Universities
Moderator
Ruth Okediji, Jeremiah Smith Jr. Professor of Law and Co-Director of the Berkman Klein Center, Harvard Law
Description
Academic scientists perform cutting-edge research in biotechnology, and university technology transfer plays an important role in translating promising biotechnological inventions into marketable treatments. Much policy and scholarly attention has focused on formal technology transfer, wherein universities patent academic inventions, including those in biotechnology, and then license them to private entities for commercial development. While patenting and licensing certainly play important roles in technology transfer, they are often inadequate in fully transferring a biotechnological invention to outside parties. Among other challenges, even when a patent nominally discloses an invention, academic inventors retain a significant amount of personal, experiential, tacit knowledge that is highly valuable to practicing and commercializing that technology. Transferring tacit knowledge possessed by faculty inventors is a significant challenge in academic technology transfer, and several organizational innovations can help facilitate such transfer. Informal networks, consulting agreements, sponsored research, proof of concept centers, and university spinoffs facilitate greater interaction between academic inventors and commercial licensees and play important roles in transferring tacit knowledge in parallel to formal patenting and licensing, thus accelerating the commercialization of university inventions.
Location
Pacific McGeorge School of Law, Lecture Hall, 3200 Fifth Ave., Sacramento, CA
Organizational Forms of University Technology Transfer in Biotechnology
Pacific McGeorge School of Law, Lecture Hall, 3200 Fifth Ave., Sacramento, CA
Academic scientists perform cutting-edge research in biotechnology, and university technology transfer plays an important role in translating promising biotechnological inventions into marketable treatments. Much policy and scholarly attention has focused on formal technology transfer, wherein universities patent academic inventions, including those in biotechnology, and then license them to private entities for commercial development. While patenting and licensing certainly play important roles in technology transfer, they are often inadequate in fully transferring a biotechnological invention to outside parties. Among other challenges, even when a patent nominally discloses an invention, academic inventors retain a significant amount of personal, experiential, tacit knowledge that is highly valuable to practicing and commercializing that technology. Transferring tacit knowledge possessed by faculty inventors is a significant challenge in academic technology transfer, and several organizational innovations can help facilitate such transfer. Informal networks, consulting agreements, sponsored research, proof of concept centers, and university spinoffs facilitate greater interaction between academic inventors and commercial licensees and play important roles in transferring tacit knowledge in parallel to formal patenting and licensing, thus accelerating the commercialization of university inventions.
Speaker Bio
Peter Lee teaches and writes in the areas of patent law, innovation, and technology transfer. His current scholarship explores the institutional context of innovation as well as the intersection of intellectual property law and academic science. His recent works have appeared in The Yale Law Journal, Stanford Law Review, California Law Review, Duke Law Journal, Michigan Law Review, and other leading journals. Professor Lee has received numerous awards for his scholarly work, including the UC Davis Chancellor’s Fellowship, the Samsung-Stanford Patent Prize, and inclusion in West/Thomson’s annual Intellectual Property Law Review. He has served as a Visiting Scholar at Melbourne Law School and speaks widely on intellectual property matters in the United States and abroad.
Professor Lee received his undergraduate degree from Harvard University, where he studied the history and philosophy of science. He received his J.D. from Yale Law School, where he was a member of The Yale Law Journal. Professor Lee joined the UC Davis faculty after clerking for Judge Barry G. Silverman of the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals. At UC Davis, he teaches Patent Law, Intellectual Property, International Intellectual Property and Development, Property, and a seminar on Innovation and Technology Transfer. Professor Lee received the Distinguished Teaching Award in 2016.