Are patents an effective way to share your inventions?
Yes.
“Most of the world believes in patents,” says John DiMaio, manager of the Life Sciences Group in McGill’s Office of Technology Transfer (OTT). “Last year an unprecedented 500,000 patent applications were filed at the United States Patent and Trademark Office.” He cautions, however, that North American universities account for only two per cent of granted patents. “Combined, North American universities were awarded approximately the same number of patents as just one American corporation, such as IBM,” he says. “The distinction however resides in the breadth and depth of innovation emerging from academic centers—and that translates into incentive for the private sector to adopt or invest in new forward-looking opportunities and new products.”
Researchers aspire to serve the greater good. Ironically, the instinct to publish and disclose, while well-intentioned, may be counterproductive. “The most successful drugs—the ones originating from pioneering academic research that have found their way in clinical development pipelines or medical practice—achieved that status because of sound and responsible patent strategies,” says DiMaio. “The same applies for human diagnostics, processes and other innovations that benefit society on the whole.”