A comparative study assessing viable remuneration models for university researchers regarding inventions, copyrights and trade secrets commercialized through the university

Abstract

In order to promote increased utilization of university research, a more entrepreneurial and industry oriented university is advocated by e.g industry actors, and scholars writing preparatory works. The globally most common legislative change, implemented for example in Denmark Germany, Austria, Norway, and Finland between 2000 and 2007, to provide the university with the tools required to meet the new expectations is the abolishment of the “Professor‟s Privilege”. When implementing such overturning changes, several issues and questions arise. One of them is the question of how to remunerate the university researchers. The seemingly trivial question is complicated by the effect different levels of remuneration may have on researcher compliance with disclosure rules, university finances as well as through measures by which the university supports start-up ventures based on university technology. Following the initial part of the paper regarding remuneration for patented inventions, a parallel is drawn also to non-patented patentable inventions, trade secrets in general as well as copyrights. Finally, the limiting premises under which the university is able to commercialize non-patentable intellectual assets, or perhaps rather the lack of intellectual asset status due to lack of control opposing commercialization options, is questioned. The paper suggests a modified gross revenue model as standard for remunerating university researchers for patents. For the case when the university promotes a third entity utilizing university research the importance of a distinction between the three entities, being the university researcher the company and the university is emphasized. Such a distinction in turn allows the different relations to be handled separately and for most of the relevant aspects to be taken in to consideration. For trade secrets and copyrights, it will initially be concluded under which premises commercialization is possible, and for those cases, a gross revenue model for remuneration will be suggested. Regarding the limited capacity of confidentiality in the university, extended exceptions to the Swedish principles of openness are suggested.