Germany switches patent power

Germany has taken a step that should make it easier to commercialize inventions made in academia. Starting this month, German universities and academic research institutions are allowed to file for patents on inventions made by their employees and to reap the bulk of the financial rewards that result.

Under the former "employees invention law," only researchers and university teachers, but not the institutions they were working for, were allowed to file for patents. But many researchers failed to file for patents on their work, or did not want to file for philosophical reasons. As a result, their inventions couldn't be commercialized...