Universities ‘should give more IP to business’

By David Matthews. Universities should give more intellectual property over to small- and medium-sized British businesses. That is the view of Andy Hopper, the outgoing president of the Institution of Engineering and Technology, who steps down from the role next month. 
He said that taxpayers were funding the creation of intellectual property in universities, “so it seems reasonable that more of this is made available to UK SMEs that are best positioned to add value and commercialise it”. 
He suggested that in return, universities take a 1 or 2 per cent shareholding in the company, which would be “more of a goodwill gesture than a conventional transaction”. More...