In poring over a recent report on the state of university commercialization activity in the UK, authored by Paul Wellings, Vice Chancellor of Lancaster University, we came across a rather stunning set of benchmarks comparing the results of university tech transfer in the UK against Australia, Canada, and the U.S. The report, which Wellings stresses represents his personal opinions, offers a host of recommendations for UK universities to improve their IP management policies and practices. But it also presents the data shown below, which dispels the myth that UK institutions lag far behind their U.S. counterparts in moving research out of the lab and into the marketplace. In fact, in several key categories in the five-year period between 2000 and 2004, UK institutions produced significantly better results. With a denominator of $100 million in research expense, the UK far outperformed the U.S. in License and Option Agreements (LOAs) executed, the number of LOAs yielding income, and number of start-ups formed. In the latter category, UK schools produced more than three time the number of start-ups per $100 million in research expense than U.S. institutions. But the data also reveal an equally glaring differential in the dollar value of the UK deals. Despite the higher numbers of licenses, total income generated pales in comparison to the U.S. The entire report, titled “Intellectual Property and Research Benefits,” can be downloaded here.

Posted December 10th, 2008 under Tech Transfer

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