Licensing and start-up activity by universities and research institutes remained strong during fiscal 2010 despite the chilly economic climate, according to survey data released by the Association of University Technology Managers in advance of the AUTM U.S. Licensing Activity Survey: FY2010 and the AUTM Canadian Licensing Activity Survey: FY2010, which the organization plans to publish later this month. This is the first year AUTM has made the data available in advance of the published reports.
With permission from AUTM, Tech Transfer eNews analyzed licensing data for fiscal year 2010 using AUTM’s Statistics Access for Tech Transfer (STATT 3.1) database. The searchable, exportable database contains data collected by AUTM over the past 20 years and allows for individualized searches of information about U.S. and Canadian institutional research expenditures, patent filings and expenditures, licensing activities, and start-up creation.
The 152 U.S. institutions responding to the annual survey reported licensing and related revenues of $1.79 billion compared to $1.78 billion in 2009. Three institutions accounted for more than a quarter of that revenue. Northwestern University reported nearly $180 million in revenue, an increase of nearly $20 million from FY 2009; New York University reported $178 million, up $65 million from the previous year; and Columbia University reported $147.2 million, down from $154.3 million in 2009.
But the looming patent cliff began to emerge at other institutions. Licensing revenue for the University of Florida fell from about $54 million in 2009 to $29.2 million in 2010, while revenue at the University of Georgia sank from $30.5 million to $6.7 million after the patent for the eye product Restasis expired.
Despite the small overall revenue gain, the number of U.S. patents issued to U.S. universities in 2010 increased markedly, to 4,019, compared with 3,088 the previous year. TTOs also filed slightly more patent applications in FY 2010 — 11,427, compared with 11,260 the previous year.
In addition, AUTM survey respondents reported a significant uptick in the formation of start-up companies — 613 in FY 2010 compared to 555 the previous year. TTOs inked 4,735 licenses and options in 2010, up from 4,624 the previous year, with nonexclusive licenses representing the largest category, at 2,302. Of a cumulative 33,364 active licenses, AUTM respondents reported that 13,995 continue to generate licensing revenue and another 6,647 are generating running royalties.
Operationally, U.S. TTOs reported an average of 5.9 licensing FTEs, ranging from zero at several institutions to more than 46 at the University of Texas System, 24 at the Wisconsin Alumni Research Foundation, 22 at the University of Illinois Chicago Urbana, and 20 at MIT. Institutions averaged 6.3 other FTEs. Research expenditures totaled $53.2 billion, including $35.8 billion from federal government sources. For more information on the survey results, go to AUTM’s web site at www.autm.net.
Look for AUTM statistics on Canadian institutions in next week’s eNews.
Posted November 9th, 2011 under Tech Transfer
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