NISTIR-6098
Development, Commercialization, and Diffusion of Enabling Technologies
Progress Report for Projects
Funded 1993-1995
7. INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY
PROTECTION AND DIFFUSION OF TECHNOLOGY
Protection and Disclosure of Intellectual
Property
Protection of intellectual
property through formal patent and copyright mechanisms provides legal
protection against use of an invention without permission or compensation.
The patent or copyright thus converts the intellectual property into
a potential income-earning asset and, for many applications and industries,
is critical to the ability of the innovator to commercialize a new technology.
In return for patent protection, however, the innovator must agree to
public disclosure of the patented invention and (to a lesser extent)
copyrighted material. Disclosure provides a means of attracting commercial
partners interested in licensing or joint production opportunities, and
thus reinforces the private commercial purposes of the intellectual property
protection; however, it also is a mechanism for unintended knowledge
spillovers--to competitors or others who may be in a position to exploit
the knowledge without paying for it. (See Jaffe,
1996.)
Both aspects of patent
and copyright protection are important to achieving maximum commercialization,
diffusion, and social benefit of the ATP-funded technologies: Patent
and copyright protection afford ATP-funded firms the necessary incentives;
i.e., protection of title to their innovations, to undertake costs of
product development and marketing needed to launch a commercial product,
and may help open new licensing and other partnering opportunities. The
wider the commercial use of the technology and the greater the spread
of information concerning resulting products and processes, the greater
the opportunity for market spillovers to users and customers and for
knowledge spillovers to others in a position to make use of the knowledge
for their purposes.
Most companies report plans
to protect intellectual property created in their ATP project, whether
they plan to produce in-house or to license the technology to others.
As shown in Figure 27, patent protection, copyright
protection, and maintenance of trade secrets are listed respectively
as primary strategies by 61 percent, 27 percent, and 51 percent of companies.
A more detailed analysis (not shown) indicates that ten percent of the
companies listed all three strategies as primary; 15 percent listed both
patents and copyrights as primary; and 25 percent listed both patents
and trade secrets as primary strategies. Thus some combination of legal
protection and secrecy/first mover advantages appears to be a common
strategy. Of course, to the extent that companies patent their technology
they cannot expect to maintain the same knowledge secret; but companies
may identify some aspects of their technology best protected by patent
and other aspects best protected by secret, and thus combine the two
strategies.
Figure 27. Intellectual
Property Strategies Planned
Organizations receiving
ATP awards in the FY 1993-1995 competitions report that the ATP-funded
technologies build on, and intellectual property rights are protected
by, nearly 2,000 pre-existing patents. Companies seeking title to new
intellectual property created with ATP funding have reported to NIST
105 new patents filed and 7 copyrights filed; and 11 patents have been
issued. Often initial patents predate the ATP project, and the ATP project
focuses on bringing the technology beyond a rough concept.
Dissemination of Non-Proprietary
Information
Published papers, conference
participation, news articles, press releases, and internet sites provide
additional dissemination of information about ATP-funded technologies.
Although some companies are more active than others in dissemination,
many are very active in publishing papers, issuing press releases, and
making public presentations concerning their R&D activities. Universities
and other research organizations, with permission from the for-profit
companies holding title to ATP-funded intellectual property, have also
been active in disseminating non-proprietary information about their
ATP-funded technology development. Table 4 provides
a summary of the activity through December 1996 in published professional
journal articles and conference papers alone.
According to the BRS data,
more than half the projects covered in this study have produced published
conference papers, and approximately one-fourth have produced published
articles in professional journals. On average, about 1.8 conference papers
have been presented and 0.6 professional journal articles published per
project.
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to Chapter 8: RELATIONSHIP TO PRIOR WORK AND
CONCLUSIONS
Date created: December
1997
Last updated:
August 3, 2005
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