Academic leaders are responsible for obtaining value from innovations developed at a university. Importantly, innovation value can vanish when there is an inadvertent disclosure of an invention. A hallmark requirement for patent protection is an invention’s novelty. Many countries have absolute novelty requirements. What happens if a discovery is published or otherwise disclosed before a patent application is filed, and the so-called cat is out of the bag? What value can the university salvage?
Expertise, Credentials, and the Value of the University
It seems we can’t trust our own credentials or those that we provide to our students. Or perhaps it would be better to say that we have so much confidence
Constance C. Relihan
May 18, 2026
