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APOLOGIES, RE-SEND UNIVERSITY LICENSING REPORT Michael Odza 19 Feb 1998 03:19 EST

My profound apologies for sending the news about university technology
licensing in RTF format, which can't be translated by the system. Here
it is, without the coding.

Strictly embargoed until
February 18, 1998
after 1 A.M. EST
 CONTACTS:
 Michael Odza (press) 415/883-7600
 Daniel E. Massing (Survey Chair) 607/257-1081
 Marvin C. Guthrie (AUTM President) 617/726-8608        Karen Hersey (AUTM
President-Elect) 617/258-8577

SURVEY SHOWS SMALL COMPANIES ARE BIGGEST USERS OF ACADEMIC RESEARCH
INNOVATIONS
Universities Move Science from the Laboratory to the Marketplace,
Supporting 212,000 Jobs and Contributing $24.8 Billion to the Economy
Norwalk, CT-The sixth annual licensing survey released by the
Association of University Technology Managers (AUTM) confirms that the
transfer of research conducted at academic research institutions to
companies plays a vital role in the U.S. economy. AUTM estimates that
sales of products developed from inventions made in the course of
academic research and licensed to industry amounted to $20.6 billion in
1996. Furthermore, licensee companies, including 248 new ones, invested
an estimated $4.2 billion prior to sales to bring the early-stage
inventions to market. The combination supported an estimated 212,500
primarily high-wage, high-skill jobs in 1996.
"The Survey data illustrate that the private sector is expanding its
partnerships with universities and other nonprofit research
institutions, as Congress hoped when it gave us control over our
patents," commented Marvin C. Guthrie, president of AUTM, and vice
president, patents and licensing, Massachusetts General Hospital. "I am
especially gratified that small companies took nearly two-thirds (64%)
of all the licenses granted last year, just as Congress intended."
The nearly 300-page Survey presents a comprehensive profile of academic
technology transfer, the process by which, following the Bayh-Dole Act
of 1980 (Public Law 96-517), universities and other nonprofit research
institutions find private sector partners to take on the
commercialization of federally funded research discoveries and
innovations. It includes reports from 131 U.S. universities (including
89% of the top 100 research universities), 26 teaching hospitals and
other nonprofit research institutions, 14 Canadian academic institutions
and two patent management firms. The data enhance our understanding of
one of the major pathways by which the nation's investment in basic
academic research is translated into public benefits.
 The Survey reports that research institutions received 10,178
disclosures of inventions from their researchers in 1996, resulting in
3,261 new patent applications. Institutions reported negotiating 2,741
new licenses or options to commercialize academic discoveries. Licenses
are the agreements that define terms and conditions for the right to
develop inventions into commercial products. The cumulative total of
active licenses, signifying that the industry partner is pursuing
commercialization, reached 12,951 in 1996.
Reports from a subset of institutions that have provided data every year
since 1991, when the survey began, help shed light on trends. Technology
transfer appears to be more efficient in 1996, with research
expenditures in support of academic research upon which licensing
depends rising at an average rate of 6% annually since 1991, not
inflation-adjusted. Meanwhile, licenses executed at these institutions
have increased 75% since 1991, or 12% per year, on average.
While not every innovation succeeds in the market or even in reaching
the market, many of the active licenses have or will result in highly
significant new products or processes, sometimes laying the foundation
for new companies, or even entire industries. In particular, the
biotechnology industry has depended on academic research since its
beginnings in the early 1980s. Newly available data in the 1996 edition
of the Survey confirm how crucial technology transfer is to meeting
medical needs: 67% of the active licenses and an even larger percentage
of the license income received by institutions (86%) drew upon research
in the biomedical and other life sciences.
Universities reported more detail this year on their level of activity
as equity investors in start-ups or small companies. Universities
generally accept an equity position partially in lieu of licensing fees
to permit start-ups to direct the cash conserved towards faster
commercialization. The Survey shows that in 1996, 167 licenses, about
six percent, included equity participation for the institutions.
The president-elect of AUTM, Karen Hersey, Intellectual Property Counsel
for the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, commented, "The Survey
confirms that research universities are effectively translating theory
into practice to the enormous benefit of the public. The volume of
technology transfer activity demonstrates that industry not only needs
the creativity and innovation of academic research, but values our
active participation in the process of building partnerships."

AUTM is a nonprofit, professional membership society with over 1,800
members working in 250 academic institutions and an equal number of
companies. Web site: http://autm.rice.edu/autm. The Survey is available
printed in summary or full report form. The data are also available in
electronic format. To order, contact AUTM: 49 East Avenue, Norwalk, CT,
06851-3919, phone 203/845-9015, fax 203/847-1304, e-mail:
xxxxxx@ix.netcom.com.
####

--
Best Regards,

Michael

Michael Odza
Celebrating ten years of assisting
tech transfer professionals via
Technology Access Report and
Intellectual Property Advice (for researchers)
8 Digital Dr., Suite 250
Novato, CA 94949
800/733-1516 (415/883-7600)
FAX 415/883-6421
xxxxxx@techaccess.com