Protection and Commercialization of Patents in Portuguese Universities: Motivations and Perception of Obstacles by Inventors

Abstract

This research aims to understand the motivations of Portuguese university researchers to patent, as well as main obstacles found in this process of patent protection and commercialization. We interviewed 19 academic researchers from five Portuguese public universities. The researchers interviewed are inventors in university’s patents, currently granted and in force, corresponding to a total of 63 patents in force, being 13 of those commercialized. As main motivations researchers have highlighted curricular valorization, followed by the universities’ incentives to patent and the commercialization potential of technologies. In the case of main obstacles, the inventors have stressed the level of development of the patent technology, the university administrative procedures and the valorization of patents by industry. More specifically, the need for further R&D before technology reach the market, the bureaucracy of internal university processes, inflexibility of university representatives in negotiations with industry, little appreciation of R&D by industry and lack of financial capacity to implement the patent technology are the most frequently cited obstacles.