The formal use of such intellectual property rights (IPR) as patents and registered copyright by universities has increased steadily in the last two decades. Mainstream arguments, embedded in economic theory and policy, advocating the use of IPR to protect academic research results are based on...

Birgitte Andersen is Professor of the Economics and Management of Innovation in the School of Business, Economics and Informatics at Birkbeck College, University of London. She works on business innovation and technology policy, services dynamics and productivity, and the economics and...