British universities are a wellspring of innovative ideas, many of which go on to be commercialised via ‘spinout’ – companies based upon the intellectual property generated by academics. Recently, however, the UK’s approach to spinouts has come under question, and has prompted a government review into spinout policy.
In Academic to Entrepreneur Unlocking the Potential of UK Spinouts, Dr Anton Howes, Eamonn Ives and Sam Dumitriu explore the history of spinout policy, assess its current strengths and weaknesses, and set out their thoughts for a better system of commercialising academic ideas – arguing the case for a shift towards an approach known as Professor’s Privilege.