Valuation analysts may find their services are required at university tech transfer offices

Highlights of the albeit lagging Association of University Technology Managers (AUTM) U.S. Licensing Activity Survey for fiscal year 2010 included:

• 657 new commercial products created

• 4,284 licenses executed

• 1,078 options executed

• 398 executed licenses containing equity

• 38,528 active licenses and options

• 651 startup companies formed, 498 of which had their primary place of business in the

licensing institution’s home state

3,657 startups were still operating as of the end of FY 2010.

Reporting institutions listed 12,281 new U.S. patent applications in FY 2010, and 1,116 non-U.S. patent applications.

An interesting metric is evolving, though little can be done with it other than use it for organization comparisons:  research expenditures to related licensing revenue. For example, the University of Massachusetts announced the average research expenditures across the five-campus UMass system totaled nearly $400.8 million annually over the 20-year period covered in AUTM statistics, generating $79,732 in licensing revenue ever year for every $1 million spent for research.