2022 Licensing Survey

 

Research Funding Grows 9.5% in 2022

US Survey — Key Findings

The results of this year’s AUTM Licensing Survey indicate positive trends on both ends of the technology transfer timeline, starting with record levels of research expenditures and closing with growing numbers of productive startup companies and commercially available products.  

The key findings of the 2022 US Survey:
  • Total research expenditures in 2022 topped $91 billion—the highest total reported in the survey’s 30-year history and a 9.5% increase from 2021.
  • Startup companies created to commercialize technologies developed at universities and other research institutions were more robust in 2022 than in 2021. The cumulative number of operational startups reported in the survey increased by 8%, and 27% fewer startups had gone out of business than in 2021.
  • Technologies developed by universities and research institutions were responsible for 850 new commercial products that became available to the public in 2022, an increase of nearly 7% from 2021.
  • Patent licenses accounted for only 51% of the total number of licenses reported in the survey, which for the first time asked respondents to report licenses by subcategory. Copyright licenses accounted for 38%, indicating the growing importance of this sector.
US Survey — Purchase the Report
Purchase the 2022 US Licensing Survey (including appendix summarizing data from individual institutions).
Purchase 2022 US Survey







 

Canadian Survey — Key Findings

This year’s AUTM Licensing Activity Survey findings underscore the value of startups in ensuring that Canadian citizens benefit from technologies developed at Canadian universities and other research institutions—a trend that will help to offset decreases in federal funding for research and development. 

  • Startup companies created to commercialize technologies developed at universities and other research institutions were more robust in 2022 than in 2021. The number of startups that were still operational at the end of the yearlong reporting period increased by 4%.
  • Nearly 90% of the new startups created to commercialize technologies developed at universities and other research institutions were located in the home province of the institution. This was the second consecutive year and the sixth time since 2015 that the percentage exceeded 89%.
  • Patent licenses accounted for only 42% of the total number of licenses reported in the survey, which for the first time asked respondents to report licenses by subcategory. Copyright licenses accounted for 49%, indicating the growing importance of this sector.
  • Total research expenditures were up 2% for 2022 compared with 2021, when assessing the 29 institutions that participated in both surveys. Federal funding decreased by 9% in that group, which was offset in part by a 7% increase in industry funding.
Canadian Survey — Purchase the Report
Purchase the 2022 Canadian Licensing Activity Survey (including appendix summarizing data from individual institutions).
Purchase 2022 Canadian Survey
    







 

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Search More Than 30 Years of Data
View the data online via STATT (Statistics Access for Technology Transfer), a searchable database of nearly three decades of data. All members whose institutions participated in the 2022 survey receive a free annual subscription to STATT. Members from non-participating institutions can purchase an annual subscription of STATT.

Survey Pricing
AUTM Member Status Publication Price
Members from Contributing Institutions Survey Data Free
Members from Non-contributing Institutions Survey Data $50
Non-members Survey Data $375

STATT Database Pricing
AUTM Member Status STATT Product Price
Members from Contributing Institutions One-year Subscription Free
Members from Non-contributing Institutions One-year Subscription $225
Non-members One-year Subscription $525
  

Thank you to the 2022 Survey sponsor:

To learn about sponsorship opportunities in the tech transfer industry's go-to report, contact AUTM Business Development Manager, Casey Annunziata.