From Silicon Valley to Silicon Fen, the results of collaboration between universities and business have contributed to the impact of high-tech business on the global economy and helped to bring intellectual property to the centre stage. A symbiotic relationship has evolved between the academic community – dedicated to the cultivation of ideas – and the business world, adept at the extraction of profits from ideas.
The collision of these ‘intellectual’ forces with those who generate a return on the ownership of ideas as ‘property’ is a story in which the University of Cambridge has played a key role.
