Seminar: The central contradiction of intellectual property in “deep tech”

New Dog, Old Tricks: The central contradiction of intellectual property in “deep tech”, the latest wave of science solutionism

"Deep tech" has emerged as an increasingly prominent term associated with materialising scientific advancement - positioning high-tech engineering and science enterprises as the solution to global challenges from climate change to health inequalities. Yet beneath its optimistic rhetoric lies a fundamental contradiction: intellectual property operates as a pervasive infrastructure that simultaneously enables and constrains the deep tech project, often undermining its stated social aims.

This lecture by Gemma Milne examines how IP - as both legal device and cultural ideology - dominates the "lab to market" process through three key mechanisms: the construction of the scientist-entrepreneur subject, the assetisation of knowledge, and valuation practices designed to attract venture capital. Rather than efficiently translating science into social benefit, current IP regimes orient deep tech toward investor expectations, wealth extraction, and knowledge monopolisation. The result is a "closed world structure" that forecloses alternatives and perpetuates technocapitalist logics under the guise of problem-solving innovation.

Drawing on critical science and technology studies, I argue that deep tech cannot fulfil its revolutionary promise without disentangling itself from IP's material and rhetorical grip. The challenge is not whether to support deep tech, but whether we can imagine - and build - alternative pathways for materialising science that serve equity and justice rather than capital accumulation. Deep Tech, Otherwise…perhaps?

Gemma Milne is a Lecturer in Innovation and Technology Management at the University of Glasgow, and a writer and broadcaster focused on cultural, economic and social concerns of science and technology. Her research focuses on the political economy of lab-to-market processes, with a particular focus on alternative organisational structures for 'deep tech’ (e.g. biotech, quantum technologies, space technologies, advanced manufacturing etc). Gemma is author of 'Smoke & Mirrors: How Hype Obscures the Future and How to See Past It'; has written for outlets such as The Guardian, WIRED, Forbes, the BBC and others; and is co-host of the Radical Science podcast. Gemma has been an Expert Assessor for the European Commission and Innovate UK, a Fellow of the Institute for the Future of Work, an Innovation Jury Member for SXSW and a Scout for Backed VC.

This seminar is open for everyone, but registration is necessary. Register here.