Inventor mobility and involvement in commercialization key to success – studies prove

[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]

Inventors typically retain unique knowledge about aspects of their inventions that is not completely documented. 112 For example, licensing a patent provides the right to make and use an invention, but it does not typically convey all of the attendant technical information for practicing it. 113 To obtain patent protection, an inventor must adequately describe the invention in a way that would teach a scientist of ordinary skill how to make and use the invention as well as indicate possession.114 Yet, the disclosure requirements are notoriously insufficient for conveying complete knowledge of the invention. Numerous scholars have described how the limitations of language, the difficulty of codifying information, and insufficient incentives for full disclosure limit the value of information obtained through patents.115 Significantly, inventors retain some amount of personal, tacit knowledge that is typically not part of the patent· document and often requires multiple interactions over time to convey effectively.116 For instance, a researcher may disclose the materials and methods used for creating a biologic compound, but the specifics of the process and the researcher's intuitive sense cannot be easily described-they are personal.117 Difficulties arise because conveying this type of individual, tacit knowledge 1s time-consuming, expensive, and intensely collaborative.118 The process often requires in-person communication and ongoing interaction to be successful. 119 Continuing, active relationships with inventors is a key factor in facilitating the information exchange necessary for commercialization of inventions.120 Not surprisingly, licenses often require some form of ongoing interaction, such _as consulting, to facilitate the transfer of tacit knowledge.121 Research has shown that licenses that include conveying know-how and interaction command a premium over those that only cover patents.122

By sharing their personal knowledge, inventors make an important contribution to the success of the private companies with which they interact.123 The expertise and insights of inventors is often extremely valuable, for they can bridge the lacuna of knowledge between the inventor that conceived of the invention and the individual that will commercialize it. Increasing inventor involvement in commercialization by 10% has been shown to increase mean revenues by almost 30%.124These "star scientist" inventors often lay the groundwork on which a new company will be built or an existing company will evolve. 125 Inventors have been analogized to "gold deposits," given their ability to improve the odds that a company will succeed in its formative years.126 Conversely, inventors' failure to transmit their unique tacit knowledge may frustrate commercialization of a licensed invention.121