Universities prefer to license their IP, European Patent Office reports

Licensing easily leads alternatives such as selling patents and joint ventures, study finds

European universities and public research organisations much prefer to use licensing to commercialise the patents they hold, the European Patent Office has reported.

Licensing was “by far the preferred channel of commercialisation, accounting for 70 per cent of the commercialisation of inventions”, according to results the EPO published on 24 November of a study it carried out based on patent applications received between 2017 and 2018.