ProTon survey shows increase in tech transfer from Europe’s universities

A total of 305 European technology transfer offices, from 10 European countries, took part in the survey. A total of 5,841 inventions were disclosed to tech transfer offices in 2008, an increase of 30.5 per cent compared to the number reported in 2005. On average, each office registered just under 20 invention disclosures and together they registered a total of 2,951 priority patent applications, an increase of 56.3 per cent compared to the 2005 figure.

The 2009 survey indicates that the number of patents granted per year to members of ProTon Europe is increasing, with the average number of patents granted rising from 1.3 in 2005 to 3.4 in 2008. The survey also reports the total number of spin-out companies created with was 495 in 2008 compared to 435 in 2005.

Announcing the 2009 results, Arno Basedow, Chair, ProTon Europe, said, “The results from the ProTon Europe 2009 Survey show that key indicators of knowledge transfer activities have increased sharply across European since 2005.”

European tech transfer offices are still far from reaching the results achieved by their US counterparts, mainly because of the fundamental differences in structures and IP laws, but Basedow said the results are encouraging, especially given that most European offices are younger than US counterparts.

Basedow is the Managing Director of the Technologie-Lizenz-Büro, Karlsruhe, Germany, the technology licensing office of the higher education institutions of the southern German state of Baden-Württemberg.

Pat Frain, Director of NovaUCD, the tech transfer arm of University College Dublin and incoming Chair of the Board of ProTon Europe, said, “Great progress has been made in most European countries, including Ireland, in developing knowledge transfer and innovation.

“However, to be on a par with the US, we need to tackle the diversity of intellectual property laws across Europe, the cost and complexity of the European patent system, the lack of consistency in the handling of IP and related agreements by research funding agencies, and the lack of substantial funding for proof-of-concept resources to demonstrate the commercial value of inventions.”

ProTon Europe is the largest European Knowledge Transfer Association. Created in 2003 by the European Commission, it has been self supporting since 2007. The complete results of the ProTon Europe 2009 Survey are available upon request to José Syne, Secretary-General, ProTon Europe ([email protected]).