The University Patent Portfolio: Goal or Means?

The article addresses the issue of the growing patenting activity in Russia, identified as one of the key indicators in the Concept for Technological Development of the Russian Federation until 2030. The problem under discussion arises from the fact that, despite more than 30 years of the patent system’s existence, a noticeable licensing market in Russia has not yet developed. Consequently, some universities consider the formation of patent portfolios unjustified in the absence of actual licensees. According to statistics, only about 3 % of patents obtained by universities reach the market, while the contribution of universities to Russia’s overall patent activity has been increasing in recent years. This situation contradicts the target indicator of the Concept for Technological Development of the Russian Federation, which calls for a multiple increase in patent activity. To address this issue, the authors propose an approach to the formation and evaluation of university patent portfolios based on a comprehensive consideration of explicit and implicit factors that determine the feasibility of developing inventive and patenting activities within universities. The paper presents statistics on the patent activity of leading Russian universities, a brief review of publications devoted to the development of university patenting practices, and data illustrating state policy in this fi eld. The experience of Ural Federal University (UrFU) in organizing inventive and patenting activities is analyzed in detail. It is shown that many universities, including UrFU, when building their patent portfolios, take into account not only the potential direct commercial benefits from managing intellectual property rights, but also other factors—such as the formation of assets based on research results to ensure legal use and minimize practical risks, support for technological entrepreneurship within the university, and the promotion of engineering education. The authors suggest that these factors exert an implicit influence on commonly accepted performance indicators of universities and that their importance for institutional competitiveness will grow under the implementation of Russia’s technological development strategy.