Performance Starts with Invention Disclosures

When the Technology Transfer office was formed in 1994, it was called the Industry Liaison Office (ILO). Between 1994 and 2002, the U of A received approximately 65 reports of invention per year (these are also called invention disclosures).

This volume continues to increase in response to the dramatic rise in research funding experienced at the U of A in the last 10 years. 

The three-year rolling average of (2003-2005) is over 90 reports of invention per year (including U of A invention disclosures receved by TRLabs on behalf of the University).

 for fiscal year 2004-05, the University received a record of 109 invention disclosures and for this year 2005-06 ending at the end of the month we anticipate to exceed that previous record total. In FY 2003-04 there were 97 reports of inventions and 2002-03 saw 90 ROIs.   

Average Annual Activity:

• 90 reports of invention per year (reporting on inventions with commercial potential is required of all U of A researchers, but they may commercialize indepentently or assign the IP to the U of A in order to receive support from the Technology Transfer Program)
• About 20% of all inventions are independently commercialized by the inventor each year
• About 80% of all inventions are assigned to the UniversityThe Technology Transfer Program evaluates all assigned technologies and:
  • 10% are returned to the inventor if they have been determined to have limited or no market potential or if they require further development
  • 90% are accepted for commercialization with the help of the Technology Transfer Program
  • Assigned: 45% of these accepted technologies result in new licenses (about 25 new licenses per year)
  • Independent: less than 10% of independently commercialized technologies result in a license or revenues (based on the yearly reporting on independent files). Fewer than 10 technologies out of the roughly 100 that have proceeded independently in the last decade have resulted in a license and/or revenues.