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Introduction

Intellectual property commercialization is the processes of transferring new technologies, in the form of products or knowledge, from the lab to the market place. There are various indicators to measure this process, for example: the number of institutions engaged in intellectual property (IP) management (Table 1-1), IP income (Table 18-1), number and value of research contracts (Table 9-1), number of inventions, patents and licenses (Tables 13-1, 14-1, 15-1, 16-1 and 17-1).

Technology production at Canadian universities and teaching hospitals in 2005 and 2006 increased at a slower rate than in 2004. However, income from IP rebounded in 2005 and this progression continued in 2006. The latter indicator was developed by the Association of Universities and Colleges (AUCC) in consultation with Industry Canada and Statistics Canada as part of the 2002 Framework of Agreed Principles on Federally Funded University Research. ¹ 

Among other indicators, the number of research contracts fell 12% between 2005 and 2006. Meanwhile, the value of these contracts increased with more Canadian businesses and organizations contributing domestically. The number of applications and patents held in Canada and other countries (Table 16-1) continued to expand. However, for the first time in 2006, the number of new IP disclosures fell 6.6% as 96 fewer inventions were made (Table 13-1). This 6.6% drop may be due, in small part, to a decrease in the number of institutions reporting. ² 

Technology production

Technology production activity at Canadian universities and teaching hospitals (educational institutions) was up in 2005 and 2006 but the pace of increase was successively slower than in 2004 (Table 1-1). The number of patents issued, declined 5.3% in 2005 and further declined 9.8% to a count of 339 in 2006 (Table 15-1). However, the patent portfolio held by Canadian universities and hospitals at the end of 2005 stood at 3,961 and advanced to 4,784 by the end of 2006 (Table 16-1). There exists a time lag between applying for a patent or copyright and its approval.

The pool of discoveries and patent applications influence the number of technologies protected. In 2006 the number of inventions fell 6.6%, while discoveries that are more likely to be legally protected dropped 7.1% to 707 (Table 13-1). These are disclosures which, after evaluation, universities and hospitals determined to contain enough novelty to represent an advance over existing technologies and offer economic potential. Another indicator, patent applications in the pipeline at various stages of progress, increased slightly, by 2.3%, accompanied by a noted shift in the patent application field of study away from agricultural and biological sciences towards engineering and applied sciences (Table 14-1).

The number of full-time equivalent employees engaged in IP management from 2005 to 2006 more than doubled the rate of increase experienced over the 2004 to 2005 year period. The number of technology transfer personnel also expanded with the percentages of this group holding bachelor, masters and doctorate degrees increasing slightly (Table 5-1). Despite these employment increases, total operational expenditures for IP management increased 2.3% between 2005 and 2006 offset by the drop in patent and regular legal expenditures (Table 2-1).

Commercialization

Patents

University and hospital technologies are generally commercialized in two ways: they are either licensed out to established business organizations or universities may set up new companies. ³ 

Over one-half (54.7%) of the patent portfolio held by universities and hospitals had been licensed out, assigned or otherwise commercialized at the end of 2006 as compared with 48.4% at the end of 2005 and 44.0% at the end of 2004 (Table 16-1). In particular, there was a significant effort to take technologies to the market in the United States (U.S.). The commercialization ratio of patents held in the U.S. notably increased although it was still below the overall ratio.

Income from IP increased 8.2% in 2006 to $59.7 million (current dollars) as the percentage of income received from Canadian sources fell 4.4%. Overall the percentage of IP income attributed to milestone payments and one time sales of IP strengthened while funds from running royalties diminished (Table 18-1).

Spin-offs

In addition to licensing technologies, educational institutions and teaching hospitals spun off companies to commercialize their respective technologies. In 2006 there were 14 additional spin-off companies, bringing the total number of spin-off companies incorporated prior to 1981 to 1,103 (Table 21-1). The regional distribution of spin-off companies generated to date is: Ontario (37%), British Columbia (22%), Quebec and the Prairies (both 17%) and the Atlantic provinces (7%) (Table 25-1).

The spin-offs are largely built upon leading-edge technologies mostly in the field of health sciences, engineering and applied sciences, informatics and biotechnologies. More than one-third of all spin-offs are built upon technologies directly related to health sciences, a not surprising result in light of the fact medical technologies are on the leading edge of technological advancement and 33 of the 117 institutions covered in the 2006 survey are hospitals (Table 1-1).