Record Patent Income Demonstrates Value Of UC Research

Another record year for University of Cincinnati patent income means a fourth straight year of UC leading all universities in Ohio, Kentucky and Indiana in earnings from its research efforts. UC ranked 27th nationally out of 151 research institutions in the survey.

"UC continues to be one of the most productive research institutions in the nation," said Richard Kordal, UC's director of intellectual property.

UC earned an all-time high of $6.5 million in patent income in fiscal 2002, according to the just-released annual survey from the Association of University Technology Managers (AUTM). That's up from $5.4 million in fiscal 2001, which at that time was the first year UC had broken through the $5 million mark.

"The private sector continues to value the usefulness of UC's research," said Howard Jackson, UC's vice president for research and advanced studies. "Of all the U.S. patents UC has had issued over the last five years, more than 50 percent are licensed or optioned to companies. That rate demonstrates tremendous interest in the kind of work produced here."

Kordal noted that, of all UC's active exclusive licensed agreements, approximately 25 percent are with Ohio companies.

UC's fiscal 2002 total is also the highest among all tri-state universities, ahead of respected research institutions such as Indiana University ($3.8 million), Case Western Reserve ($3.0 million), Kentucky ($1.5 million) and Ohio State University ($828,000).

"This is recognition that the tremendous capacity for innovation among our faculty and students is resulting in tangible benefits to society and our economy," Kordal said.

Patent income measures the end of the development process. The key statistic for looking at the beginning of the process, invention disclosures, also shows UC at record levels. In fiscal 2002, UC recorded 98 invention disclosures. That's up from a total of 69 invention disclosures in fiscal 2001.

When measuring invention disclosures produced versus the amount of research funding received by the institution, that ratio shows UC to be twice as productive as the national average.

The AUTM survey results continue a run of excellent research news from UC. Earlier this fall, the university announced that its research enterprise topped $300 million for fiscal year 2003, an 18.6 percent from the previous year. The National Science Foundation ranks UC 46th among all U.S. universities in research funding, and 25th among public U.S. universities in research funding.