ANÁLISE SOCIOMÉTRICA DA ESTRUTURA DA REDE DE PROPRIEDADE INTELECTUAL DE UMA UNIVERSIDADE PÚBLICA

This study aimed to investigate the structure of the collaboration of researchers from the Federal University of Lavras inventions that registered on the National Intellectual Property Institute (INPI) network, in the period 1995-2013. The themes that correspond to the theoretical assumptions used to base this study are the strength of the ties of Granovetter (1973) and the theory of structural holes Burt (1992) and its importance for inter-organizational relations in the context of universities or research institutes. Regarding methodological procedures it is a case study, which was adopted document analysis, the literature search and personal in-depth interviews with 10 teachers / researchers. To identify the network structure, the central actors in addition to the procedures already mentioned, we used the sociometric analysis, observing the authorship of inventions registered with the INPI, through the Center for Technology Innovation (Nintec), automatically calculated with the aid of softwareUcinet© and Netdraw. The research is classified as exploratory and descriptive, qualitative and quantitative . For data analysis we used content analysis. Based on the results we conclude that this case study was evaluated the relationship between theory of social networks and actors involved in the generation of intellectual property in a Brazilian university, UFLA. One can check that the small number of records protection, this university is closely related to sparse culture of teachers / researchers and others responsible for innovations, to register their inventions. There is a tendency of records arise from initiatives of particular interest due to the incipient culture of intellectual protection registration at the university. Through this study, we found that various policies have been implemented and strengthened in Brazil and UFLA, especially over the last decade