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The Association of University Technology Managers released its annual report earlier this week detailing how universities, hospitals and institutions fared in 2006 in transferring research to the private sector. Essentially, the data paints a picture of a maturing industry.

Key metrics, such as the number of patents filed, were up 8% to nearly 16,000, while but the number of patents actually awarded, 3,255, was relatively flat compared with last year. Licenses, the bread and butter of technology transfer offices, were up only slightly at 5,000 completed in 2006. Federal funding of research grew by $3.1 billion, to $45.4 billion, which as a percentage gain is in line with previous years.

However, for venture firms trying to take advantage of the billions spent by the U.S. government on research at universities to shortcut their own tech development time, the news wasn't so hot. In 2006 only 553 spinouts were created, down from 628 the year before.

I found the drop surprising, since I have seen a lot more effort on behalf of U.S. states and venture firms to increase the number of spinouts emerging from universities and hospitals. It will be interesting to see the data in a year or two as current tech transfer efforts bear fruit. Perhaps 2006 will be the calm before a storm. - Stacey Higginbotham

See 2006 AUTM licensing Survey
See Nov. 5 post from Tech Confidential
See Oct. 23 story from Tech Confidential

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