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earned his PhD at the Department of Industrial Engineering and Innovation Sciences at Eindhoven University of Technology.
On June 11, 2026, B眉ttner defended his research on how the patent system shapes the spread of knowledge.

Opening doors

New technologies often begin in specialized labs but struggle to reach wider society. B眉ttner, part of the Technology, Innovation and Society group TIS, examined how patents influence the way knowledge moves from inventors to broader audiences. His research reframes the patent system: it not only protects ideas, but is also a vast, globally searchable record of technical knowledge that helps others discover and build on existing inventions. This raises important questions about how societies can balance protection with access, especially in sectors where progress depends on collaboration.

Hidden barriers

Entrepreneurs often face barriers when trying to use existing technical knowledge. Relevant information may sit behind paywalls in scientific journals, be written in a language they cannot read, or be hard to find among the tens of millions of technical documents produced each year.. B眉ttner demonstrates that these barriers can slow down innovation, particularly for startups and small businesses that lack the resources to overcome such barriers. In fields like sustainable energy or medical technology, this can delay solutions that society urgently needs.

Learning flow

The research highlights that disclosure plays a critical role in helping knowledge spread. But disclosure on its own is not enough: patents only become valuable sources of technical knowledge when the surrounding infrastructure makes them searchable, translatable, and accessible across languages and technological fields. B眉ttner shows that better disclosure practices can enable engineers, researchers, and companies to learn faster from existing inventions. This accelerates development in industries where time and resources are limited.

Real world

Consider a researcher at a small biomedical company developing a new diagnostic test. To check what others have already tried, she would normally turn to recent scientific articles, but many of the most relevant ones sit behind journal paywalls her firm cannot afford. The patents covering the same underlying technology, however, are free to read online, fully searchable, and very detailed about how the invention actually works. B眉ttner's findings illustrate how improving the patent system can directly influence how quickly solutions reach the market and society.

Smarter system

Within the TIS group, B眉ttner explored how the patent system could evolve to better support knowledge diffusion. His work suggests that policymakers and patent offices can play an active role by maintaining open-access policies for publicly funded research, supporting technologies that overcome barriers, and actively pursuing policies that keep the global pool of technical knowledge open and connected. These improvements can help bridge the gap between invention and application.

Shared future

The study emphasizes that innovation is not only about creating new knowledge but also about sharing it effectively. By rethinking the patent system as a global architecture of knowledge diffusion, and not only as a legal protection mechanism, society can make better use of existing ideas. B眉ttner鈥檚 research invites entrepreneurs, policymakers, and researchers to consider how other systems can be adapted to support more inclusive and efficient innovation.

Benjamin B眉ttner defended his thesis on June 11, 2026.
Title of the thesis:
Supervisors: Rudi Bekkers, Emilio Raiteri.