Chapter 8 PATENTING AND INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY RIGHTS IN ACADEMIC - INDUSTRIAL VENTURES Panu Kuosmanen‚ Timo O. Korhonen‚ Helsinki University of Technology‚ Antti Ainamo‚ Jaakko Pöyry Consulting‚ Helsinki School of Economics‚ and the University of Art and Design Helsinki 8.1. Introduction A patent is an exclusive right to exploit an innovation commercially. In its full meaning‚ patenting is one of the most complex and sophisticated areas of legal practice. In the core‚ the motivation for patenting is to protect inventors against unfair exploitation of their invention by imitators and competitors. By patenting‚ product and service developers obtain exclusive rights for their creative insights and hard work. When a company holds a patent directly‚ or by the virtue of having received rights to use it‚ the patent can help to gain a foothold in a marketplace or to maintain a commercial advantage‚ during which time the company can further develop its products. Patenting can also serve to enhance company’s reputation and image‚ especially when the patent is internationally granted. Like other intellectual property rights‚ patents are an important part of financial valuation and competitive advantage‚ especially in high-tech industry. Competitors‚ who do not own the patent rights of par- ticular technology‚ must invest more money and capital to develop new‚ com- petitive solutions‚ or to pay the patent holders for the rights to utilize the pat- ent. The patent holder can also adopt a pricing policy that is more beneficial for a company in terms of regular rents‚ or pay on demand per use. Besides licensing‚ the right to use a patent against payments in the above way‚ patent holders can also sell the patent. In both cases‚ the patent becomes an object of trade as in itself (a commodity of exchange). A patent is granted for a limited time. In many countries‚ the maximum time of validity is twenty years from the date of application‚ providing that the annual maintenance fees are paid. 193 T.O. Korhonen and A. Ainamo (eds.)‚ Handbook of Product and Service Development in Communication and Information Technology‚ 193-209. © 2003 Kluwer Academic Publishers. Printed in the Netherlands.