Academia is positively enamored with intellectual property (IP) innovation. Universities push their academics and researchers to pursue patents and design registrations to protect the schools’ inventions and increase the schools’ prestige. So smitten are schools with the IP rat race that they use IP innovation to motivate their wards. Innovate and advance. Fail to innovate? You better start honing that curriculum vitae.
Schools put so much pressure on their faculty that a recent study entitled Exploitation of Intellectual Property Systems for the Manipulation of Academic Reputations reveals a troubling trend: faculty paying to put their names on patents for inventions they did not create. This practice is particularly rampant in the United Kingdom’s design registration system, where fraudulent firms sell inventorship credit to any academic with thin enough morals and a fat enough pocketbook.
The Rise of Academic IP Fraud
Traditionally, patents and design registrations serve to protect intellectual and creative work. However, in countries like India and Pakistan, where academic promotions are very tied to the number of patents and publications, a market for fraudulent authorship has emerged. The new study uncovers how businesses offer inventorship on UK registered designs—often misleadingly labeled as “UK design patents”—for sale to Indian academics.
Unlike patents, which require an examination for novelty, UK registered designs undergo only a limited review, mainly focusing on formalities. This loophole allows fraudulent firms to file and quickly obtain design registrations that appear to be legitimate IP protections. These registrations, in turn, are used by shady academics to gain points in research evaluation systems, securing promotions and institutional recognition without any genuine innovation.
How the Scam Works
The study analyzed over 3,000 UK registered designs filed by suspicious firms. These firms even provide a menu for unscrupulous candidates to purchase exactly what they want. Want to be listed as the first inventor on a U.S. patent? $398. Finances a little tight? Well then you may want to opt for being the first listed inventor on an Indian patent. That is a steal at only $105.
The firms pushing this type of IP fraud, often operating out of India but using UK business addresses, engage in:
- Selling Inventorship Slots: Academics pay to be listed as inventors on design registrations that they had no role in creating.
- Reusing Images and Designs: Fraudsters are so lazy they even reuse identical images from old filings on new filings, giving them a new name and more room for any wannabe inventors with the means to pay.
- Advertising on Social Media: Facebook, WhatsApp, and Telegram groups actively promote these “patent” opportunities alongside offers for research paper authorship and thesis writing services.
- Fast-Track Registrations: Since UK registered designs do not require novelty examinations, these filings are processed within days, making them an attractive shortcut for those looking to enhance their credentials quickly.
The Consequences of IP Exploitation
The fraudulent use of design registrations has severe implications:
- Academic Integrity at Risk – Institutions that reward individuals for fake innovations, either knowingly or unknowingly, dilute their reputation and undermine legitimate research.
- Institutional Rankings Manipulated – Universities with a high number of patents and designs gain better rankings, even if some of those registrations are fraudulent.
- Legal and Ethical Concerns – By exploiting loopholes in the IP system, fraudulent firms damage the credibility of design registration as a tool for protecting genuine innovation.
- Potential for Litigation Abuse – Even though these design registrations are questionable, they can still be used to threaten competitors with legal action.
Possible Solutions
To combat this growing issue, the study suggests several interventions:
- Revising Academic Promotion Criteria: Any institution seeking to preserve its integrity must scrutinize IP claims more carefully and ensure that only genuinely innovative patents and designs count toward academic promotions.
- Stricter IP Review Processes: Governments and IP offices must implement additional checks, particularly for “filing trolls,” who file large numbers of design registrations with thousands of different inventors.
- Awareness and Policy Changes: Countries that rely on patents and IP registrations for academic evaluation must revise their policies to ensure that non-examined design registrations are not counted toward academic innovation.
Conclusion
The growing exploitation of IP for academic fraud is a troubling development that threatens the credibility of both academia and the intellectual property system. While patents and design registrations can be valuable tools for innovation, their misuse undermines the integrity of both research and academic rankings. The only way to thwart these scammers is to make educational institutions, IP authorities, and policymakers aware of the problem and convince them to change their policies to eliminate the incentive to fake IP rights.
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