Disclosures

Signaling a Plateau

The disclosure is the launching pad for evaluating new inventions, analyzing market potential and developing strategies for protecting the intellectual property.

The total number of disclosures reported decreased noticeably over 2018. Perhaps the real bellwethers are the disclosure per staff (full-time equivalent) and per research expenditures, both of which have remained consistent for the last five years at 9.6 and 3.3 respectively. Maturity in the tech transfer industry may be leading to a more predictable and stabilized trend with regards to disclosures on some levels, while perturbations in the larger funding picture may impact the yearly totals to some degree.

Key Findings

• Overall disclosures were 25,392, a decrease of 3.1% from 2018.
• The average number of disclosures received was 142 for the 179 institutions responding to the survey. Over the past five years, the average disclosures per respondent have shown a slight upward trend. Compared with five years ago, the average number of disclosures per institution has marginally increased by 15.
• The average number of disclosures per staff fluctuates around 10.
• Disclosures per $10 million in research funding has shown a modest decrease over the past five years.