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And jobs for the future
Technology transfer is a big factor in economic development, too, attracting high-paying, high-tech jobs to the state. The small business incubators at Purdue's Research Park are just one example of the ways in which university research spins off into commercial products and services.
"As a result of the people you attract to the region, you'll have additional economic development,” Trana says. “There's no doubt that technology transfer returns value, not just to the university, but to the local and state economy.”
And the overall impact reaches far beyond Purdue and Indiana. Through technology transfer, ideas that start in a Purdue lab become products with worldwide demand and impact.
Full circle: Revenue funneled back into research
Taking an invention that starts with an idea in the research lab and developing it for use in the public sector is an expensive and time-consuming process. Universities and their potential business partners alike have a common interest in protecting the commercial value of new technologies. This protection usually comes in the form of a patent, a legal recognition granted by the U.S. government, which permits the researcher to exclude others from making, using, selling or otherwise profiting from the invention.
Many technologies patented at Purdue are eventually licensed to one or more companies, and profits from commercial development are shared with the university. Income from 243 licensed technologies generated more than $4 million for Purdue in 2003, money that is funneled back into research. About 10 percent of the revenue comes from licensing inventions and technology developed by Purdue Agriculture researchers.
Licensing protects the interests of companies willing to invest the time and resources required to bring a new product to market, a process that can take two to three years and cost millions of dollars, according to Simran Trana, acting director of Purdue's Office of Technology Commercialization. “Many discoveries require considerable future investment before they are ready for consumers to use,” Trana says. “To ensure that investment, we will sometimes offer a company exclusive access to the technology we've patented. This access gives the company an incentive to invest in developing a Purdue product for market.”
In 2003, Purdue issued 80 licenses, and Purdue inventors received 30 patents. This ongoing effort in developing new technologies and making them commercially available is proof that technology transfer itself is another Purdue success story.
Related links:
Purdue Agricultural Research Programs
Purdue University Research
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