The primary objective of this paper is to demonstrate the usefulness of the concept of moral economy for higher education studies through a study of Finnish research universities' patent policies. Patent policies not only stimulate the commercialization of research, they also set norms for behavior and aim to clarify how to distribute rights and responsibilities during the commercialization of research results. My main research finding is that even though institutionalized university patenting is a very recent phenomenon in Finland, policies regulating it have significant similarities to the US case. The main conclusion of this paper is that the question of university patent policies should not be disconnected from broader questions regarding contemporary globalizing knowledge capitalism. Overall, this paper contributes to higher education studies by showing the relevance of the concept of moral economy in studying contemporary university changes and transformations by demonstrating the moral economic nature of patent policies.