Corporations have always been and always will be the nation’s largest repository of commercially viable IP, holding 95% of all patents. However, their proficiency to develop and patent technologies certainly does not directly correlate with introduction to the marketplace, as approximately only 5% of corporate held technologies ever reach the marketplace.  When considering this and the fact that much of the IP generated by Universities, Federal Labs, and Independent Inventor’s is inherently basic research that has not benefited from the directed market knowledge that is held by corporate entities, it becomes quite easy to see that a significant commercial resource is held dormant and at risk of being lost as it sits, unutilized, within the confines of corporate America. This signals that investors seeking a healthy ROI should look to Corporate America for the diamonds in the rough.  

Between 1998-2004, a donation model to monetize underutilized IP was established by the Treasury Department in which corporations were given financial incentive, via tax deduction, to transfer their dormant technology to not-for-profit entities to foster economic development initiatives. Although, NISTAC turned away nearly 70% of everything offered, acquiring only those technologies related to our primary focus of commercial opportunity, we still ranked as the nation’s leading patent donee having received 25% of all donations offered under the program (53 out of the approximately 200 donation made during the six year program). NISTAC’s involvement in the program and our selectiveness of donations has proven to be a tremendous asset as we have now licensed or sold 48% of those technologies donated, with annual sales of these products surpassing $45MM and climbing.

Unfortunately, the technology donation program was abandoned by Congress in 2004 leaving little incentive for corporations to continue divesting these stagnant assets that NISTAC has proven to have value in the marketplace when placed in the appropriate environment. With this change, corporations have begun to engage us in defining what the next model will be for monetization of underutilized technologies, and our answer has been that we believe, as with anything that is of value, that it is just going to take good old-fashioned hard work. Our new model focuses on taking the skills that were honed by our organization during the technology donation and commercialization program and applying them to becoming a strategic partner in supporting Corporations in their IP monetization endeavors.