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Report Highlights Economic Impact of Tech Transfer on U.S. Economy Between 1996 and 2010

June 27, 2012

The Biotechnology Industry Organization (BIO) released a report on the significant economic impact of university and nonprofit institution patent licensing on the U.S. economy between 1996 and 2012. According to The Economic Contribution of University/Nonprofit Inventions in the United States: 1996-2010, the economic impact data related to patent licensing from university and nonprofit institutions indicated:

  • The impact on U.S. gross industry output is as much as $836 billion;
  • The impact on U.S. gross domestic product is as much as $388 billion;
  • University and nonprofit licensing supported as many as 3 million jobs; and,
  • In 2010 alone, academic and nonprofit research institutions spun out approximately 651 new companies.

Read the report...

BIO President and CEO Jim Greenwood credits the establishment of the technology transfer system by the Bayh-Dole Act of 1980 as a key underpinning of the U.S. innovation economy and catalyst for these impacts in a press release press release. Bayh-Dole enabled the patenting and commercialization of federally-funded university and nonprofit institution research that expanded the economy and improved the nation's health and quality of life over this time.

economic impact report, tech transfer