Category Archives: Social Science

Limits of Causation Models in Technology Transfer

Posted on December 31, 2011 by Gerry Barnett

There is an article by Jonah Lehrer in the latest Wired magazine that is worth the read.  It’s called “Trials and Errors” with the subtitle “Dead-end experiments, useless drugs, unnecessary surgery.  Why Science is Failing Us”.   Lehrer discusses the growing … Continue reading →

Posted in Innovation, Policy, Social Science, Technology Transfer | Comments Off

Shanzhai Rules

Posted on December 27, 2011 by Gerry Barnett

Over at the LinkedIn Post-Industrial Design group, there’s a little discussion started by Matt Sinclair on a report called The Future of Open Fabrication from the Institute For the Future.   The report calls out the Shanzhai approach to manufacturing in … Continue reading →

Posted in 3D Printing, Innovation, IP, Social Science, Technology Transfer | Comments Off

Fixin’ for Some Bayh-Dole Fixing

Posted on October 29, 2011 by Gerry Barnett

Here’s more in the wild on vesting interpretations of Stanford v. Roche.  Written by a suit of attorneys at the firm of Bracewell & Guiliani, it gets a piece of the Supreme Court decision right, does a decent job summarizing … Continue reading →

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Innovation Fiction

Posted on October 5, 2011 by Gerry Barnett

“Bewilderment, in its ancient and literal sense of being cast away in a trackless wild, was the lot of the explorer….”  Neal Stephenson, Quicksilver (p. 47 in the paperback edition). If you happen to be looking for a framework in … Continue reading →

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Learning to See

Posted on July 19, 2011 by Gerry Barnett

While Bayh-Dole and Stanford v. Roche have taken up a lot of space on these pages recently, they are not the only things going around here by any means. One area of our work has been to gain a better … Continue reading →

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What should a university focus on?

Posted on July 13, 2011 by Gerry Barnett

Benoît Godin on the statistics used to describe science, technology, and innovation (STI): – A focus on (research) activities rather than use and impacts. – An economic-oriented representation rather than social/cultural. – An interest in technology rather than science. – … Continue reading →

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The road to serfdom, patent reform version

Posted on July 1, 2011 by Gerry Barnett

Over at IP Watchdog, Eric Guttag is out with a piece on the effect of patent reform legislation on Bayh-Dole compliance.  It’s an important topic, and Guttag raises some valuable points.  But at the root of it, he is working … Continue reading →

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Cities of Innovation

Posted on June 1, 2011 by Gerry Barnett

Geoffrey West in Edge 343 (WHY CITIES KEEP GROWING, CORPORATIONS AND PEOPLE ALWAYS DIE, AND LIFE GETS FASTER): “Well, Google is a bit of an exception, because it still tolerates some of that. But most companies start out probably with … Continue reading →

Posted in Commons, IP, Policy, Projects, Social Science, Technology Transfer | Comments Off

Complex IP Management: Real and Imaginary

Posted on May 16, 2011 by Gerry Barnett

I want to look at a transition point in the framing of IP management. This discussion is about how management has structure. I argue that IP management is complex, and just like complex numbers, it has a real component, in … Continue reading →

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Collectivist and individualist innovation

Posted on May 16, 2011 by Gerry Barnett

I have been reading Friedrich Hayek’s The Road to Serfdom.  It’s a series of essays critiquing the economics of a planned society, arguing instead in favor of markets and individual choices.  Hayek argues that the ideals that give rise to … Continue reading →

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