Earlier this month, The Association of University Technology Managers released the institutions that received the most royalty revenue from licensed technologies in in early February of 2008.
UR ranked in the top 10 for its eighth year, receiving $72.3 million in royalties.
This number is at its highest in University history almost $20 million more than the amount generated in 2007.
Many of the highest earning technologies have been developed at the UR Medical Center in 2008 they were two pediatric vaccines, a cervical cancer vaccine and antibody technology applicable to the development of new drugs.
‘Many patents are never licensed, but sometimes you license one that is worth a lot of money …particularly that happens when it’s a pharmaceutical or a vaccine,” Deputy Director of the College of Arts, Sciences and Engineering Office of Technology Transfer Jack Fraser said.
Not all of the University’s patents are put to use, and licensing each patent can cost approximately $15,000 to file, due to internal and filing costs. The process of filing a patent can take several years to see through anywhere from two to eight years.
Once a patent is filed, the Office of Technology Transfer helps pitch the innovation to established companies, or in rarer cases, helps support a University startup, such as SiMPore and Virtual Scopics.
When a intellectual property can be put to practical use in a business world, though, UR can see a generous return, especially on vaccines. The University may only see a percent or two of income, but Fraser said that can translate to tens of millions of dollars.
Leber is a member of
the class of 2011.
