Inventor control and mobility uniquely key for biotech research and innovation

[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]

While not all technology licensees require the transmission of tacit knowledge for commercialization to be successful, the benefits of inventor involvement have been shown across a variety of technological fields, especially in the context of developing nascent research. 128 For example, Stanley Cohen and Herbert Boyer's discovery of recombinant DNA in 1973 was a fundamental breakthrough in biotechnology. 129 Any scientist who sought to understand the invention that would eventually launch the biotechnology industry would need to acquire significant experience with it. 130 Not surprisingly, both scientists were instrumental in translating the invention into practice, participating in the founding of two leading biotechnology firms.131 In the biotechnology realm, academic scientists helped contribute to the success of many firms through close, ongoing relationships that allowed for the transfer of their tacit knowledge.132 University inventors often conduct basic research and work on technology in its embryonic state, so a patent disclosure by itself is unlikely to adequately transfer the tacit knowledge necessary to facilitate development. 133 The groundbreaking discoveries from universities often allow for "natural excludability," meaning that any entity wanting to use these technologies will need to gain familiarity with the inventor's tacit knowledge related to them.134Much of the information about these paradigm-shifting inventions is never documented-it is within the mind of the inventor.135To facilitate the transfer of tacit knowledge, university inventors often form startups to commercialize their inventions. 136 After an academic scientist invents the technology, the university obtains a patent and then often licenses the technology to the startup for commercialization.137 By engaging the inventor directly, startups ensure that the tacit knowledge necessary for development can be conveyed in an ongoing relationship. 138 Both universities and the firms they work with recognize that ongoing inventor involvement is essential to commercialize technology evolving from basic university research.139