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Benchmarking U.S. university patent value and commercialization efforts: A new approach

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  • Hsu, David H.
  • Hsu, Po-Hsuan
  • Zhou, Tong
  • Ziedonis, Arvids A.

Abstract

Despite the economic significance of patented university research, it is difficult to measure the economic value of academic patented inventions and observe the extent to which universities are able to capture such value through patent licensing. Moving beyond assessing commercialization performance by simple statistics, we propose a new approach to benchmarking university patents and commercialization performance based on comparative corporate patent value. Our procedure involves matching university patents to patents with similar patent characteristics granted to public corporations, then estimating the “potential value” of these university patents by stock market reactions to grants of the matched corporate patents. These estimated values of university patents can significantly explain the technology-level income from licensing by a leading US research university and the annual licensing income of the member universities of the Association of University Technology Managers’ (AUTM). We find that AUTM universities realize an average of 16% of the estimated value of matched corporate patents. We also investigate correlates of university‐level potential patent value and suggest avenues for future research.

Suggested Citation

  • Hsu, David H. & Hsu, Po-Hsuan & Zhou, Tong & Ziedonis, Arvids A., 2021. "Benchmarking U.S. university patent value and commercialization efforts: A new approach," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 50(1).
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:respol:v:50:y:2021:i:1:s0048733320301542
    DOI: 10.1016/j.respol.2020.104076
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    2. Kong, Nancy & Dulleck, Uwe & Jaffe, Adam B. & Sun, Shupeng & Vajjala, Sowmya, 2023. "Linguistic metrics for patent disclosure: Evidence from university versus corporate patents," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 52(2).
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    5. Xu, Aiting & Song, Miaoyuan & Xu, Shenyi & Wang, Wenpu, 2024. "Accelerated green patent examination and innovation benefits: An analysis of private economic value and public environmental benefits," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 200(C).
    6. Kim, Young-Choon & Kotha, Reddi & Rhee, Mooweon, 2024. "Do firms with technological capabilities rush in? Evidence from the timing of licensing of Stanford inventions," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 178(C).

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    University patents; Patent value; Patent licensing;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • G12 - Financial Economics - - General Financial Markets - - - Asset Pricing; Trading Volume; Bond Interest Rates
    • L30 - Industrial Organization - - Nonprofit Organizations and Public Enterprise - - - General
    • O30 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Innovation; Research and Development; Technological Change; Intellectual Property Rights - - - General

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