Prizes not Patents for African Universities

Eyes on the prize - ex Africa semper aliquid novi -

Some African universities are considering investing money, energy and political capital in pursuing patent strategies based on the 1980 Baye-Dohl legislation in the United States. However investing in decades old, pre-Internet, Reaganomics may cause them to miss the global trend towards awarding prizes rather than patents for innovation.

This post mentions the following conference:

Medical innovation prizes as a mechanism to promote innovation and access - The conference site shows a thorough discussion by numerous speakers on prizes, and the resources page includes a number of background papers, slide presentations, and pictures from the conference.

Prizes over Patents - Africa semper aliquid novi - This post follows up on the one mentioned above, explaining advantages of prizes over patents to encourage university research teams.