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Dispelling Myths About Tech Transfer in Universities

The Council of Governmental Relations (COGR) has released the second version of the report Technology Transfer in U.S. Research Universities: Dispelling Common Myths, initially released in March of 2000. The document aims to clarify the actual purpose and nature of university technology transfer and provide detailed responses to common myths associated with its implementation, including:

  • Myth #1: Technology transfer activities have been detrimental to a university’s fundamental missions of education, research, and public service. As a result, universities have been transformed into commercial-minded entities.
  • Myth #2 : Neither the U.S. government nor the taxpayer benefits from university patents resulting from federally funded research.
  • Myth #4: Technology transfer is a major source of revenue for most universities, creating unmanageable institutional conflicts of interest.
  • Myth #8: University technology transfer offices function as “patent trolls.”
  • Myth #11: Universities are doing too much patenting. It would be better for economic growth and U.S. competitiveness to put more inventions into the public domain for everyone to use freely.

View the updated report for the complete list of 18 common myths and detailed responses addressing them.


 

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Technology Transfer in U.S. Research Universities: Dispelling Common Myths View Updated Report