The Relation Between University Science Base and Follow-Up Patent Activity

We adopt the principle of relatedness, as that modified to frame science-technology linkages, to examine whether universities file for patent applications in fields that exhibit related scientific specializations. We perform the analysis on approximately a hundred US universities by documenting their publication and patent application profiles during 2001–2015. We find a strong relationship between the university’s science base and the propensity to file for patent applications in related technological fields. More importantly, we find that patent applications related to the university’s scientific capabilities experience a higher probability of securing the grant. A mechanism of early technology transfer is discussed and corroborated. Our findings point to the need for managers to document and monitor the university’s science base as a complementary tool to evaluate invention disclosures.