In recent years, there has been an increase in the commercialization of intellectual property (IP), via such mechanisms as patents, licences, copyrights, and trade marks. New institutions (e.g. science parks), as well as new organizational forms (e.g. research joint ventures), have emerged to facilitate the creation and commercialization of IP. Existing institutions, most notably universities, have become much more aggressive in protecting their IP and devising ways to generate additional revenue from their IP portfolios. These trends have important policy implications, which are addressed by the authors in this issue. We summarize their contributions and provide some context for assessing these salient matters.