Technology Transfer and the End of the Bayh-Dole Effect: Patents as an Analytical Lens on University-Industry-Government Relations

TL;DR

This paper analyzes the evolution of university patenting in the U.S. post-Bayh-Dole Act, highlighting shifts in trends and the influence of international universities entering the U.S. high-tech patent market since 2008.

Contribution

It provides an analytical perspective on university-industry-government relations through patent data, revealing changing patterns in university patenting since 1980.

Findings

University patenting increased exponentially until 1995.

A decline in university patenting occurred after 1999.

Recent years show a linear increase driven by non-US universities.

Abstract

Three periods can be distinguished in university patenting at the U.S. Patent and Trade Office (USPTO) since the Bayh-Dole Act of 1980: (1) a first period of exponential increase in university patenting till 1995 (filing date) or 1999 (issuing date); (2) a period of relative decline since 1999; and (3) in most recent years -- since 2008 -- a linear increase in university patenting. We argue that this last period is driven by specific non-US universities (e.g., Tokyo University and Chinese universities) patenting increasingly in the U.S.A. as the most competitive market for high-tech patents.