Mecanismos de Transferência de Tecnologia previstos pela Lei de Inovação e sua adoção pelas universidades federais brasileiras

Abstract

Technological innovation performs a central role in the current knowledge economy. A way of speeding-up the innovation process is through Tech Transferring (TT) from Scientific and Technological Institutions (STI) to enterprises. As the Innovation Law was promulgated in 2004, the Brazilian government has been attempting to create a regulatory environment suited to innovation. These actions have promoted an enhancement on the scientific and technological production levels, particularly within public universities. The most prominent legal advances are, however, relatively new and no significant studies on its influence on the overall TT of STI-enterprises results have been documented so far. Hence, the present research aimed to identify the STI-enterprises’ tech transfer mechanisms embodied in the Innovation Law over the 2004-2019 time period, and study its adoption by the Brazilian federal universities. An information gathering from their Technology Transfer Offices (TTO) was then attained through an e-Sic questionnaire. Also, a deep research on the Innovation Law’s changes over time was conducted in order to identify the TT mechanisms it allows. A group of indicators concerning the TTO’s structure, the of innovation policies deployment, patenting and licensing activities, and, particularly, the federal universities’ appropriation of the TT mechanisms allowed by law. A total of 25 TT mechanisms present in the Innovation Law were then identified. Also, the overall results have also unveiled traces of an important growth of the patenting and patent licensing over time. Despite these advances, deep inequalities among the TTO regarding their TT performance were observed. A significant number of universities didn’t even presented any TT result over the time period studied. Researches like this one are of great interest once they broaden out the understanding of the mechanisms involved in the TT of STI-enterprises, at the same time they can support the strategic decision making process of the government, the enterprises and the universities on behalf of technological innovation ever growing results that can benefit the Brazilian society.