A dimens o política da patente na mídia

The public communication of science is a matter that has been treated in various areas such as science and technology policy, and political science. The patent, as a social product, has been dealt with in the literature mainly for its economical, legal, and technical dimension. This paper aims to study the patent as a source of information for the media, especially when it is treated in its political and institutional scopes. The empirical analysis focused on the newspapers Gazeta Mercantil and Valor Econ mico. In the news whose main concern is to discuss the political dimension, matters associated with the understanding of the patent as a tool of science and technology (S&T) policy were analyzed.