Indiana University Reports Strong Technology Transfer Performance in 2017-18 Fiscal Year

Indiana University’s Innovation and Commercialization Office (ICO), responsible for protecting, marketing, and licensing intellectual property developed across IU campuses, has reported strong technology transfer metrics for the 2017-18 fiscal year.

Bill Brizzard, executive director of IU ICO, attributed the continued success over the past three years to the combined efforts of ICO managers and the diverse research contributions from faculty, staff, and students across all academic disciplines and campuses.

"Indiana University is among the pre-eminent research institutions in the world, which is reflected in the high-quality front-line work disclosed daily to IU ICO," Brizzard said. "We’re delighted to help connect that research to established companies and startups so that these discoveries can impact the lives of people worldwide."

The technology transfer process at IU begins when a researcher from any IU campus or regional education center discloses an invention to the ICO. The office then collaborates with patent agents to pursue patent protection, a process that can take several years. Concurrently, ICO managers market and license patented and patent-pending inventions to industry partners.

For the 2017-18 fiscal year, IU ICO recorded 171 disclosed inventions. Over the past three years, IU researchers have disclosed a total of 485 inventions, reflecting a sustained high level of innovation.

The office completed 46 licensing agreements during 2017-18. These agreements involved American licensees located in Alabama, California, Illinois, Indiana, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Jersey, North Carolina, and Ohio. International licensees were based in Canada, Switzerland, and the United Kingdom. Across the last three fiscal years, IU ICO has finalized 154 licensing agreements.

Licensing and royalty revenues for 2017-18 totaled $3.4 million. Over the preceding three years, IU generated $17.11 million in such revenue. The university’s Intellectual Property Policy governs the distribution of these funds, allocating shares to the inventors, their laboratories, campus units, and the ICO.

During the 2017-18 period, 141 patents were issued to IU by the United States Patent and Trademark Office and other global patent authorities. Over the past three years, IU has been granted 506 patents worldwide.

Since its establishment in 1997, IU ICO has overseen nearly 3,200 inventions resulting in more than 4,800 global patent applications. These innovations have cumulatively generated over $145 million in licensing and royalty income, including more than $115 million returned to IU departments, laboratories, and inventors.

This sustained technology transfer success reflects Indiana University’s ongoing commitment to advancing research discoveries from the laboratory to commercial application, fostering economic development and societal benefit.