Filing Rate and Transfer Rate at NIST: An examination of invention disclosures, patent applications, and invention licenses

Published

May 28, 2021

Author(s)

Michael J. Hall

Abstract

This paper applies technology-transfer efficiency metrics—filing rate and transfer rate— proposed in the academic literature on technology transfer to data on invention disclosures, patents, and licenses from the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST). This paper then compares these measures to measures reported for the Naval Medical Research and Development Enterprise (NMR&D) and universities. For fiscal years 2010 through 2014, NIST had a filing rate of 67% and a transfer rate of 15.3% on reported inventions. During that same time period, NMR&D had an 84.5% filing rate and 9.4% transfer rate. Compared to the university mean filing rate of 60% and transfer rate of 42%, this suggests that NIST and NMR&D invention disclosures are prosecuted for patenting at a higher rate and result in licensing at a lower rate. An important caveat about these measures is that their values are influenced by the nature of research conducted, the organization's mission, and the organization's policies towards intellectual property.

Citation

OTHER - TTB 2

Report Number

TTB 2

NIST Pub Series

Other

Pub Type

NIST Pubs

Download Paper

https://doi.org/10.6028/NIST.TTB.2

Local Download

Keywords

Filing rate, licensing rate, invention disclosure, license, patent, technology transfer, ORTA, federal laboratory

Citation

Hall, M. (2021), Filing Rate and Transfer Rate at NIST: An examination of invention disclosures, patent applications, and invention licenses, OTHER, National Institute of Standards and Technology, Gaithersburg, MD, [online], https://doi.org/10.6028/NIST.TTB.2, https://tsapps.nist.gov/publication/get_pdf.cfm?pub_id=929334 (Accessed October 5, 2024)