Inventor involvement key development across tech fields – tacit knowledge requires direct involvement of inventors for commercialization and tech development

[Brenda M. "Preserving the Fruits of Labor: Impediments to University Inventor Mobility," Tennessee Law Review 89, no. 1 (Fall 2021): 1-66 heinonline gdi-tm]

The Effects of Inhibiting Mobility on Innovation

Limiting university inventor mobility has many implications for innovation. Overly burdensome restrictions on mobility inhibit the information exchange often essential to technological development.140

Increased restrictions on inventor mobility may impose barriers to innovation "as the potential for ideas to recombine and cross-pollinate across firm boundaries also declines." 141 Such limitations can "dampen the learning effects of the network."142 The dissemination of information resulting from mobility can also enrich the overall welfare and diversity of an innovation community.143

From the parent university's perspective, however, increased inventor mobility imposes numerous costs. First, the parent university must find a replacement for the departing inventor. 144 Second, without any limits on mobility, academic institutions may hesitate to invest relationship-specific capital, as investments in developing the employee's human capital may be lost.145 Finally, and perhaps even more concerning to the parent university, departing inventors may disclose valuable information to their new employers, potentially putting the prior institution at a competitive disadvantage. 146 Limiting mobility may provide incentives for institutions to expend greater resources in developing human • capital. 147 Close relationships between inventors and the parent . university can also foster the exclusivity necessary to incentivize outside firms to take on the expense of commercialization.148Without robust intellectual property licensing of employee inventions, universities may lack the resources to provide the initial capitalization and infrastructure necessary for innovation, though at least one study suggests that most universities fail to convert their discoveries into a source of income.149 In the context of academic institutions, the social costs of placing extensive limitations on university inventor mobility will often outweigh the benefits for several reasons. As described in the previous subpart, academic researchers play a special role in the innovative process, given their involvement in nascent research.150 Researchers at higher education institutions carried out approximately 49% of all basic research in the United States in 2015.151Basic research forms the building blocks of technological advancement, yet there is not much of a private market for nascent inquiry.152 The significance of tacit knowledge in innovation for university-created inventions can help "explain why individual mobility appears to be so important to knowledge networks."153 Greater movement of inventors can allow knowledge spillovers, which may benefit both the parent university and new institution, and ultimately the economy. 154 Enhanced mobility can foster the formation of a network of talented employees and may contribute to greater diversity.155 Inhibitions on mobility could keep university inventors at a less than optimal institution, rather than allowing transfer to a place where they could be more motivated, effective, creative, and productive.156As will be set forth in the next subpart, the traditional sharing norms and culture of openness of academia would seem to welcome, or at least tolerate, the occurrence of such knowledge spillovers.157