About the Authors

Robert Kneller

kneller@tt.rcast.u-tokyo.ac.jp

Affiliation University of Tokyo, Research Center for Advanced Science and Technology (RCAST), Tokyo, Japan

Marcel Mongeon

Affiliations Ross, Mongeon, Covello & Co., London, Ontario, Canada, Office of Research Contracts and Intellectual Property, McMaster University, Hamilton, Ontario, Canada

Jeff Cope

Affiliation Research Triangle Institute, Research Triangle Park, North Carolina, United States of America

Cathy Garner

Current address: Lancaster University, Management School, Lancaster, United Kingdom

Affiliations Manchester Knowledge Capital, Ltd., Manchester, United Kingdom, Council for Industry and Higher Education, London, United Kingdom

Philip Ternouth

Current address: National Centre for Universities and Business, London, United Kingdom; University of Salford, Salford Business School, Greater Manchester, United Kingdom

Affiliation Council for Industry and Higher Education, London, United Kingdom

Competing Interests

At the time of data collection and until the present Marcel Mongeon has been a partner in Ross, Mongeon, Covello & Co., an Ontario law firm that specializes in providing business and intellectual property advice for clients. These clients on occasion have included universities and companies dealing with universities. There are no patents, products in development or marketed products to declare. This does not alter the authors' adherence to all the PLOS ONE policies on sharing data and materials, as detailed online in the guide for authors.

Author Contributions

Conceived and designed the experiments: PT CG RK. Performed the experiments: RK MM JC CG PT. Analyzed the data: RK MM JC CG PT. Wrote the paper: RK.