New report pulls new insights from AUTM data on impacts of university research
Guest ContributorJuly 11, 2013
Entitled Public Sector Research Commercialization Report 2013, the study reveals that the 33 organizations it covers applied for 1,593 US patents and were granted 398, while they executed 571 licences in 2011 generating $40.4 million.
The report contains information that has never been pulled from the AUTM data before such as patent disclosure averages per institution, average income received for each patent, licences and output per $1 million in research spending.
"AUTM publishes data every year but no one does anything with them. There was a realization that there was all this data about the performance of the research and commercialization system — all this systemic information people just don't know," says report author Ron Freedman, principal with The Impact Group and co-publisher of RE$EARCH MONEY. "This gives us a more comprehensive picture of the performance of the system … It begs the question. How can we have innovation policies if we don't even have the core data."
data has limitations
AUTM generates detailed data on a wide range of academic commercialization indicators but it never goes beyond the raw data. Nor does it make year-over-year comparisons that would provide insight to emerging trends. Cost cutting prompted Statistics Canada to kill its long-running Survey of Intellectual Property Commercialization in the Higher Education Sector last year, ending the data train at 2010. The final survey found 125 responding organizations reporting $53.2 million in revenues.
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In 2011, there were 1,813 invention disclosures, 833 patent applications submitted and 178 patents issued. That works out to 1.28 disclosures, 1.1 patent applications and 0.14 patents per $1 million in research spending.
"It tells policy makers that you're not going to get rich on licensing revenues. It appears the 80:20 rule applies across the system, which is that 20% of the licences will generate 80% of the revenues," says Freedman. "The 33 organizations in the AUTM data are vastly different. Look at St Mary's, which is a small regional university versus UBC. Also, the organizations with medical schools and/or research hospitals are in a far better position to generate revenue."
The AUTM data show that the Univ of Sherbrooke received by far the largest amount of licensing income — $9.9 million based on its licences for a single set of patents related to voice compression software used in digital telephony — for an inordinate 24.5% share of the total. The BC Cancer Agency received the largest amount amongst health research institutions ($650,000).
data reveal institutional efficiency
The AUTM data contain several indicators that reveal the efficiency of institutions in translating discoveries into publications and revenue.
• The Univ of Guelph led the pack with 1.28 disclosures per $1 million in research spending. The top health institution received 0.39 disclosures to take the top spot.
• For the number of patent applications submitted, the Univ of Montreal was the leading institution with 122 patents while the BC Cancer Agency was the top-ranked health organization with 22.
• École de technologie supérieure was the most efficient for patent applications per $1 million in research outlays at 1.08, while the BC Cancer Agency took the top health spot with 0.38.
• In terms of patents issued, the Univ of Toronto was the number one institution with 22, while the BC Cancer Agency received eight patents.
"The data show that you need an average of $6 million to generate one patent application. You can predict the number of applications based on that formula," says Freedman.
The $40.4 million in patent and licensing income in 2011 compares poorly with AUTM data from 2001 when 27 Canadian respondents received $64.5 million based on research expenditures of just $2.7 billion. In fact revenues for just three institutions — Univ of Sherbrooke, McGill Univ and UBC — equalled the total achieved in 2011.
new focus on ranking
Another finding contained in the data is the ranking of Canada's largest research-performing university. The Univ of Toronto has long been cited as the top ranked institution in the country, but when universities are stripped of their affiliated research hospitals and medical institutions, it falls to third place behind the UBC and the Univ of Alberta.
"U of T is above average but it's not the powerhouse it seems to be," says Freedman, adding that U of T and its health affiliates are set to become the first Canadian institutional grouping to break the $1-billion barrier for FY12-13.
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