Leading article: Rights of reform

Next week, Cambridge University will announce the results of a ballot that has been taking place into whether it should reform intellectual property rights. This is turning into quite a hot potato. At the moment, dons doing research that is externally funded can pocket the proceeds of any discoveries that they may make. We believe that the university is right to try to change that situation.

Why should academics who are carrying out research using university resources and in university time keep all the money that comes from patents and spin-off companies?