A recent report from the Washington DC-based Brookings Institution suggests that many leading US universities are failing to profit from technology transfer. In fact, universities are not even generating enough of a return on their patents and technology to cover the operating costs of their tech transfer functions, including employment and patenting costs.
‘University Start-Ups: Critical for Improving Technology Transfer’ analysed licensing data from 155 US universities. The report found that most of the universities studied are losing money from licensing. During 2012, the top eight universities in terms of licensing revenue accounted for 50% of the total licensing income of all 155 universities, with the top 16 taking 70%.
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