News
By Lee Katterman
A major barrier separating the academic and commercial worlds- -the stigma attached to "applied" research -- appears to be falling, say many university licensing professionals. That is what Lita Nelson sees happening. Nelson, director of the Technology Licensing Office at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, observes that fewer faculty express the view that involvement in patents and licensing will "contaminate" them in the eyes of their colleagues and research sponsors. "I saw that attitude commonly 10 years ago, but not as much any more," she comments.
Scheduling Conflict: Albert Rubenstein notes that faculty operate on a different time scale from the corporate world.
Indeed, numerous indicators show that the payoff from university technology transfer is finally becoming substantial. "Disclosures [of faculty inventions] are increasing gradually, new patents are tracking that closely, and income from licensing is going up more rapidly," reports Joyce Brinton, director of ...
