Assessments of technology transfer activities of US universities and associated impact of Bayh–Dole Act

Patents and licenses are foundational to successful technology transfer in universities. In this article, the activities and performance of university patenting and licensing are studied to gauge the effectiveness of the Bayh–Dole Act (the “Act”), the most influential piece of US legislation on university technology transfer (UTT). Based on raw data from five sources, the annual numbers of patents granted, licenses signed, startup companies launched, and research expenditures are analyzed. Correlations are performed for all data presented to quantify trends over different time periods. We found that patenting and licensing activities in US universities slowed down greatly after 2000 and remained flat until the period from 2010 to 2012, when activities recover to the level of strength characterizing the period before 2000 and after the enactment of the Act. We identify that economic recessions is the major cause to the flatness of the patenting activities during 2000s. We also explain some of the differences found among different data sources and time periods.