Knowledge transfer from German universities into the service sector as reflected by service marks

Science policy increasingly requires that universities engage in transfer activities with a focus on technology transfer. With the considerable weight of the service sector in the economy the service transfer will get more attention. An appropriate indicator for analysing service innovations are service marks. This type of investigation reveals a growing activity of German universities in services with a focus on education, in particular further education. The mark analysis shows a relevant international competition in the market of higher education. In other fields like financial and business consultancy or medical services, the German universities as institutions exhibit a certain activity as well, but first of all university professors privately. As mark applications are linked to considerable formal requirements, additional surveys should be conducted to grasp the informal activities in service transfer as well. In any case, the amount of service transfer is quite considerable, so that the discourse on third mission of Higher Education Institutions will get a new perspective.