Academic patenting in Brazil: the role of academic inventors in PCT patent applications – 2002-2012

Abstract

The purpose of this paper is to analyse the patenting activity of the Brazilian academic sector vis-a-vis the domestic business sector, taking into account the recent evolution of Brazil’s industrial policies. The paper differentiates between “university academic patents”, which are owned by the universities, and “non-university academic patents”, which despite being invented by academic staff are not owned by the universities.,The authors’ cross-checked information regarding the names of all inventors with Brazilian addresses in PCT patent applications in the Espacenet database with the names of researchers in the CVs available on the Lattes Platform of CNPq. The analysis specifically focussed on patent applications published in the PCT with Brazilian priority for the 2002-2012 period.,It was found that the Brazilian academic patents concentrate on science-based technology areas, especially in the Pharma Biotechnology domain. For a total of 466 patent applications with Brazilian priority in this field, 233 have academic inventors. Of those 233 academic applications, 66.1 per cent have universities as their owners, while the remaining 33.9 per cent are not owned by universities. Further, it was found that there are more Brazilian academic patents in the biotechnology sub-domain than those filed by the business sector.,This research was based on the intersection of patent databases and the content available on the official curriculum base of Brazil (Lattes Platform, CNPq). Once the curricula information are voluntary, there are risks inherent reliability of this information.,This study allows us to identify more accurately which is the effective role of the Brazilian Academy in patents generation, revealing that a significant unaccounted deposits with personal inventors or companies’ ownership really have a academic contribution.,This paper shows that the academic sector plays a key role in Brazil’s international patenting activity, particularly in science-intensive technology domains, and it highlights the specific contribution of academic patents not owned by universities.,Este trabalho apresenta a analise da atividade de patenteamento do setor academico brasileiro considerando a recente evolucao das politicas de promocao da inovacao no Brasil. O artigo tem como base a diferenciacao necessaria entre “patentes academicas universitarias”, que sao patentes/depositos cujos requerentes sao as universidades, e as “patentes academicas nao-universitarias” que, apesar de ser inventadas por docentes da academia, nao tem as universidades como requerentes dos depositos.,Foram cruzadas informacoes de todos os inventores constantes nos pedidos de patentes de origem brasileira realizados pela via PCT, com os nomes dos pesquisadores com curriculos disponiveis na Plataforma Lattes do CNPq. A analise incidiu sobre pedidos de patentes publicado na via do PCT com prioridade brasileira para o periodo 2002-2012 contidos no banco de dados do Espacenet.,Verificou-se que as patentes academicas brasileiras se concentram em areas mais tecnologicas, especialmente no dominio de Farmacia-Biotecnologia. Para um total de 466 pedidos de patentes com prioridade brasileiros neste setor, 233 tinham inventores academicos. Destes 233 pedidos academicos, 66.1% tem suas universidades como titulares ou co-titulares, enquanto os restantes 33.9% nao sao de propriedade das universidades. Verificou-se ainda que existem mais patentes no sub-dominio de biotecnologia depositadas pelo setor academico brasileiro do que aquelas requeridas pelo setor empresarial privado.,Neste artigo, demonstrou que a academia desempenha um papel ainda mais expressivo na atividade de patenteamento internacional do Brasil, particularmente em dominios de tecnologia intensivos em ciencia, e destaca a contribuicao especifica das “patentes academicas nao-universitarias”, que possuem origem lastreada pelos pesquisadores da academia.