IP portfolios are regularly viewed in commercial terms; more than 80% of a firm’s value can be manifest in its intangible assets, of which IP is a feature. However, we suggest that IP can also be viewed as an asset with appreciable social valuealongside its commercial value. This article reviews two examples where the social value of IP is recognised, the United States Patent and Trademark Office’s (USPTO)‘Patents for Humanity’ awards programme, and UC Berkeley’s Socially Responsible Licensing Programme. We argue that existing patent management strategies could be adapted to take into account social value that potentially exists within a firm’s IP portfolio. The two initiatives profiled here offer cues for how business might optimise this social value.

The United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) offers accelerated progression through the patent process as a prize for winners of their ‘Patents for Humanity’ awards programme. Patents for Humanity is an effort to incentivise businesses to innovate in the interest of otherwise underserved markets and those in need. Submissions are evaluated by the humanitarian value they hold through a review of the subject matter, the target population, the contribution the applicant has made to making the technology more available for humanitarian uses, and the impact the technology has or will have. Importantly, awards are also given to those who make available patented technologies to other researchers working on humanitarian issues. These criteria offer insights into the means by which patents can be employed to generate social value both directly – by catering to underserved populations – or indirectly – by supporting the development of new humanitarian technologies.  Previous winners have included mechanical alternatives to blood transfusion, malaria vaccines, and prosthetic limbs that are affordable and easily adjustable. Yet with fewer than 15 awards made each year, the large-scale impact of this programme in delivering socially impactful returns is limited.

University policies can also assist in achieving social impact. UC Berkeley, for example, operates a Socially Responsible Licensing Programme (SRLP). Begun in 2003, the SRLP outlines the management expectations of IP owned by the university or arising from it (for example, through spin-outs) with the goal of promoting widespread availability or technology and healthcare in the developing world. In practice, this involves supporting spin-outs with social impact by inducing philanthropic funding, by stimulating the creation of non-profit product development companies, by licensing university IP on a royalty free or at-cost basis and byensuring public access to vital technologies is not impeded. This is an admirable programme but is limited by a pharmaceutical focus characterising many of its headline projects and only having influence over technologies arising from the university.

Programmes like Patents for Humanity can assist the progression of select technologies and university technology transfer policies like SRLP can offer guidance and support for the implementation of socially impactful IP. However, it is business – as the holder of most of the world’s IP – which has the greatest opportunity to employ IP in generating social value.

“Society expects much more from companies than simply a well-made product or a reliable service at the right price” (Dees, 2002). That statement from Gregory Dees will increasingly ring true. Yet whilst the prevalence of CSR and ESG initiatives within business has grown in the last two decades, traditional patent strategy still does not account for the potential to use patents to generate social impact. This is an oversight, given several studies of CSR activities have shown there are commercial advantages to engaging in activities which deliver social impact, in particular improvement to company reputation (Frombrun & Shanley, 1990; Black, Carnes & Richardson, 2000; Cole, 2012). Instead, patent strategy to date has focussed on protecting rent yielding assets from imitation, maximising licensing revenues or using patents defensively (Somaya & Smith, 2002).

This is regrettable, but not unchangeable. We might consider the words of Antony Taubman, Director of the IP Division at the World Trade Organisation (WTO), who notes that IP management in the public interest is a practical discipline requiring active management on a case-by-case basis (Taubman, 2010). Firms could adopt an approach like that of SRLP, and employ patents that would otherwise go under- or un-utilised for social impact. Access-oriented licensing agreements, which reduce the cost barrier for firms wishing to license products in LMICs, or supporting philanthropic organisations through donation of patent rights are two means of generating social impact. Supporting the development of new technologies, as highlighted through Patents for Humanity, would also be a valuable approach.

Perhaps business’ greatest strength is the opportunity to collaborate in generating social impact. Some industries have already made significant progress in this area. The Medicines Patent Pool (MPP), for instance, seeks to enable access to affordable treatments – particularly for HIV, hepatitis C and tuberculosis – in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs). Pharmaceutical companies agree to license their patents to the MPP which in turn sublicenses to generic manufacturers, enabling low-cost yet still effective treatments to be delivered to LMICs. Other industries might look to follow this lead and work together in novel, social-impact-focussed ways.

Businesses have the opportunity to leverage their IP portfolios to generate social value. Reframing patent strategy policies and taking cues from university technology transfer policies like SRLP or initiatives like Patents for Humanity can increase a patent portfolio’s overall value by developing its social value. Collaboration with other organisations within the industry can also be an effective means of making using IP to positive social difference. OxFirst’s extensive patent valuation expertise makes uswell placed to assist businesses looking to better understand the value of their patents, both in commercial and social terms. Our patent landscape reports can also help businesses comprehensively understand the market within which they operate.