Open access to IP will boost economy, says IET president

Prof Andy Hopper, an entrepreneur and academic who heads the Computer Laboratory at Cambridge University, said this will be necessarily to speed up the commercialisation of technologies and to boost the wider economy in the UK.

‘There is what I call a turnstile model between university and industry at the moment, rather than a revolving-door model, which I think is more appropriate for everybody, including universities,’ Hopper told The Engineer.

Currently, many universities have technology-transfer offices (TTOs), which are responsible for assessing inventions; IP protection and patenting; licensing; and the formation of spin-out companies.

‘This transfer happens at such an early stage of the overall business growth that most of it will fail and most of the patents won’t be used for anything much — you get many green shoots growing so one or two of them get longer,’ said Hopper.

The latest proposal would involve openly assigning required IP to UK businesses at minimal extra cost and, in return, the university would get a one or two per cent shareholding as a goodwill gesture.