Technology Transfer in The United States

Paul ZielinskiDirector, Technology Partnerships Office, National Institute of Standards and TechnologyChair, Federal Laboratory Consortium for Technology Transfer

Goal of U.S. Technology Transfer: Availability and Use of Innovations

Government

• Research/Invent

• Regulate

• Public benefit

• Consumer

Private Industry• Develop• Manufacture• Distribute• Market• Sell• Requires private

capital

Government Sponsored Transfer Technology• Large investment in mission focused research, including

basic research - $140 billion

• Missions range from space flight at NASA, defense industries, energy production, health care and many others

• Useful as an economic engine for innovation and growth of new businesses

• We consider an expansive view of technology transfer

• Patenting/Licensing

• Technical publications

• Collaborations – formal and informal

• Public Domain software

Policy Coordination• The U.S. Department of Commerce provides policy

coordination and promulgation of technology transfer regulation

• Chair the Interagency Workgroup for Technology Transfer (11 agencies)

• Annual reports for the President, the Congress, and OMB on utilization of technology transfer by DOC and across all agencies

• NIST has a statutory role as the “Host Agency” for the Federal Laboratory Consortium for Technology Transfer (~300 labs)

 

U.S. Technology Transfer LegislationObjective: Achieve practical application of funded research for the benefit of the public.

Stevenson-Wydler Technology Innovation Act of 1980 (P.L. 96-480, 15 USC 3710)

•The first of a series of laws about federal technology transfer.•Requires laboratories to take an active role in technical cooperation.

• Established an office in each laboratory to coordinate and promote technology transfer.•Sharing of royalties with inventors.

Bayh-Dole Act of 1980 (P.L. 96-517; 35 USC 200)

• Presumption of ownership by contractor to inventions developed with federal funds.

• Government retains use license.• March-in rights.

Federal Technology Transfer Act of 1986 (P.L. 99-502; 15 USC 3710a)

• Enabled government laboratories to enter into Cooperative Research and Development Agreements (CRADAs) and to negotiate licensing arrangements for patented inventions

US Lab Patent And CRADA Trends

2007 2008 2009 2010 20110

1,000

2,000

3,000

4,000

5,000

6,000

7,000

8,000

9,000

Active CRADAs

2007 2008 2009 2010 20110

200

400

600

800

1,000

1,200

1,400

1,600

1,800

Patents Issued

Technology Transfer Organizations

• The Federal Laboratory Consortium for Technology Transfer (FLC): nationwide network of federal laboratories to link laboratory technologies and expertise with the marketplace.

• http://www.federallabs.org/

• Association of University Technology Managers (AUTM): global network of members come from more than 350 universities, research institutions, teaching hospitals and government agencies as well as hundreds of companies involved with managing and licensing innovations derived from academic and nonprofit research.

• http://autm.net/Home.htm

State Economic Development

http://www.marylandtedco.org/

http://benfranklin.org/http://www.cit.org/

Entrepreneurship and Job Creation

• From 1980–2005, startups (firms less than five years old) accounted for all net job growth in the U.S.

• More than half of the companies on the 2009 Fortune 500 list were launched during a recession, along with nearly half of the firms on the 2008 Inc. Magazine list of America’s fastest-growing companies

• 79% of Americans say entrepreneurs are critically important to job creation, ranking higher than big business, scientists, and government

• In 2008, there were 530,000 new businesses per month

Coronary Stents

The lab worked closely with its commercial partner, Boston Scientific Corp, to perform innovative alloy formulation and primary material process development.

Global sales since 2009 have exceeded $1 billion. The technology was an R&D 100 award recipient in 2012.

Coronary stents save thousands of lives each year, but can be hard to see by X-rays, making proper placement difficult. A platinum- chromium alloy, developed at Department of Energy National Energy Technology Laboratory , makes it easier for coronary specialists to see the stent in the catheter during insertion, placement and expansion.

Cryo-ablation Surgical Systems• NIST research enabled the emergence of patented cryosurgical instruments for

use in treating heart arrhythmias and uterine conditions

• Based on an optimization of gas mixtures in the mixed-gas Joule Thomson refrigeration process

• Developed a 3-mm-diameter cryogenic catheter capable of achieving very low temperatures at its tip for use in freezing tissues.

• Technology developed through a CRADA and transferred to a partner.

• Licensed to small firm, has become part of a system owned by CooperSurgical, HerOption® cryo-ablation system, to treat a variety of abnormal uterine conditions resulting in excessive bleeding

• Minimally invasive, reduced patient risk from infection and anesthesia

CrispTek/Choice Batter ® Time Line

Sept-Dec 2006

Sept 2007

April 2008

Sept 2008

May/July 2009

Dec 2009

June 2010

Sept 2010

Howard Community College – Technology Assessment Program

CrispTek Formed

TEDCO Grant

Exclusive License

ARS Contract Manufacturer

First Sales

35 Grocery Stores First

Bulk Sale

400-500 Stores

Sept 2009

July 2008

$4.7M sales, 95 jobs, impact in 4 states (MD, IA, IL, TX)

U.S. Patent6,224,921

Summary

• Role of technology transfer is to encourage private business development to make innovations available

• Decentralized role of government, rely on partnerships

• Continued emphasis on technology and innovation

Thank You

Paul Zielinski

Paul.zielinski@nist.gov