AUTM: University Tech Commercialization Revenues Continue to Rise

The promise of high-wage jobs, increased business competitiveness and wealth creation makes the commercialization of university research a central element in the technology-based economic development strategies of many states, provinces and regions of North America. With figures such as $1.267 billion in aggregate adjusted gross licensing income and more than $1 billion in running royalty income on product sales, the latest and most comprehensive survey released by the Association of University Technology Managers (AUTM) reveals why.

AUTM Licensing Survey: FY 2002 provides information about licensing activities at 222 U.S. and Canadian universities, hospitals and research institutions, a record high for the 12th annual publication. Despite the severity and depth of the national recession, the survey reports marked increases across the board for sponsored research expenditures, invention disclosures, U.S. patent applications, licenses and options, license-related income and new products.

When compared with FY 2001 figures, sponsored research expenditures are up 16.6 percent, invention disclosures grew 14.8 percent, U.S. patent applications are up 13.6 percent, licenses and options increased by 15.2 percent, license-related income is up 11.9 percent and new products rose by 58.9 percent.

A list of the top 25 U.S. research institutions, ranked by adjusted gross licensing revenues for 2002 is available at http://www.ssti.org/Digest/Tables/121203t.htm. The top Canadian institution in the same category was the Université de Sherbrooke, coming in at 27th overall.

Not all news from the survey was positive, however, as other key findings point to the strain the economic recession placed on entrepreneurship and industrial research:

• Federal funding for research continued to climb, but industrial funding grew at only one-third that rate, and research funding linked to licenses and options – a major incentive for academic scientists to participate in the technology transfer process – declined.
• The share of transactions with start-up companies and large companies also declined since FY 2001. However, small companies increased activity to offset the shortfall.
• The absence of an initial public offerings window and the low level of stock prices resulted in a significant decrease in license income from stock liquidation.
• Reflecting the difficult conditions in the venture capital industry, the number of new start-ups fell, and the number of start-ups going out of business increased.

Despite the challenges, institutions continue to bring new innovations to the public and forge more partnerships than they had prior to the passage of the Bayh-Dole Act of 1980, AUTM observes. In general, human resources in reporting institutions’ technology transfer offices increased, yielding a growth in the number of invention disclosures and patents filed.

Since AUTM updated the survey tool in 1998 to add the ability to collect data about new products, institutions have reported more than 2,000 new products, ranging from medical breakthroughs to information technology advances to environmentally friendly manufacturing techniques. In the 2002 survey, respondents identified 569 products that were first made commercially available to the public in fiscal year 2002.

A full summary of the AUTM Licensing Survey: FY 2002 is available for purchase from AUTM. The public version of the summary is similar, but does not contain specific institutional information; it is available for download at http://www.autm.net.