Based on the literature from various areas, it presents three topics considered relevant to university patents as an object of study to information scientists: the academic researcher as an inventor and his dilemma between patenting and publishing; Brazilian universities as producers of innovation and their geographic distribution; university problems in managing and commercializing patents. It ends with considerations about the complexity of the subject as an object of study and its potential as a topic for research for information scholars.
University patents - Brazil; Nucleus of Tecnhnological Innovation in Brazilian universities; Technological communication - university patents, Brazil; Technological innovation; Patents management