Guiding Principles of Technology Transfer

Let Us Guide You

Enabling universities to retain their title to inventions, while also taking the lead in patenting and licensing their groundbreaking discoveries, is the cornerstone of technology transfer. This autonomy was made possible by the landmark Bayh-Dole Act of 1980, which encouraged academic institutions to seek partnerships with industry to develop campus inventions into commercial products. This new dynamic stimulated billions of dollars in private sector investment and helped leverage taxpayer-funded research to create millions of jobs, improve public health and promote a renaissance of American innovation.

Between 1996 and 2015 alone, academic technology transfer has supported 4.3 million jobs and contributed up to $591 billion to the U.S. gross domestic product. In addition to boosting the nation’s economy, the early momentum created by Bayh-Dole fundamentally changed public perceptions about the importance of university technology transfer and its role in generating revenue to support the academic research enterprise.

We've put together some guidelines to help you.

Nine Points to Consider for Fostering Greater Inclusion
AUTM developed these guidelines to address issues that are vital to advancing the profession globally and maximizing the societal benefit of research discoveries around
the world.

Nine Points to Consider in Licensing University Technology
Carefully crafted by leaders at 12 U.S. institutions, these points illustrate suggested best practices.

Stakeholder Interests
AUTM has produced a set of principles that outline stakeholder expectations in the technology transfer commercialization process.

AUTM Taking a Formal Position
AUTM educates and communicates with public officials (it does not lobby) and seeks to keep members informed about issues and legislative activity. However, certain issues arise where the Association takes a position. AUTM identifies when such action is appropriate by following these guidelines for taking a formal position.

Task Force on Managing University IP
The APLU Task Force on Managing University Intellectual Property published a set of recommendations for managing university intellectual property for the public good.

Working Group on Technology Transfer and IP
AUTM participated in the Association of American Universities (AAU) working group on technology transfer and intellectual property with the task of reaffirming that the primary goal of university technology transfer operations is to advance the public interest.