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Research and Development Outputs
Quartiles | Findings | Description
Academic patents awarded per 1,000 S&E doctorate holders in academia: 2003
Academic patents awarded per 1,000 S&E doctorate holders in academia: 2003
Quartiles
Academic patents awarded per 1,000 S&E doctorate holders in academia: 2003*
| 1st Quartile (27.3–12.6) |
2nd Quartile (12.1–8.3) |
3rd Quartile (8.2–5.7) |
4th Quartile (5.4–0.0) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Alabama | Connecticut | Arizona | Alaska |
| Arkansas | Delaware | Kansas | Colorado |
| California | District of Columbia | Mississippi | Hawaii |
| Florida | Illinois | Missouri | Idaho |
| Georgia | Kentucky | Nevada | Indiana |
| Iowa | Louisiana | New Hampshire | Maine |
| Maryland | Nebraska | Ohio | Montana |
| Massachusetts | New Jersey | Oklahoma | New Mexico |
| Michigan | Pennsylvania | Rhode Island | North Dakota |
| Minnesota | South Carolina | Tennessee | Oregon |
| New York | Texas | Washington | South Dakota |
| North Carolina | Utah | Wyoming | Vermont |
| Wisconsin | Virginia | ||
| West Virginia | |||
| *States in alphabetical order, not data order.
SOURCES: U.S. Patent and Trademark Office, Technology Assessment and Forecast Branch, U.S. Colleges and Universities-Utility Patent Grants, Calendar Years 1969–2003; and National Science Foundation, Division of Science Resources Statistics, Survey of Doctorate Recipients. See |
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Findings
- Throughout the United States, the number of patents awarded to academic institutions increased from more than 2,400 in 1997 to nearly 3,300 in 2003, an increase of 33%, while the number of academic S&E doctorate holders rose by 8% over the same period.
- In 2003, 13 patents were produced nationally for each 1,000 S&E doctorate holders employed in academia, which was significantly higher than the 10.5 patents produced in 1997.
- The rise in this indicator suggests that states and their universities are increasing their focus on academic patenting.
- In 2003, states varied widely on this indicator, with values ranging from 0 to 27.3 patents per 1,000 S&E doctorate holders employed in academia, indicating a difference in patenting philosophy or mix of industries supported by the academic institutions.
Description
Since the early 1980s, academic institutions have increasingly been viewed as engines of economic growth. Growing attention has been paid to the results of academic research and development in terms of their role in creating new products, processes, and services One indicator of such R&D results is volume of academic patents. Academic patenting is highly concentrated and partly reflects the resources devoted to institutional patenting offices.
This indicator relates the volume of academic patents to the size of the doctoral science and engineering workforce in academia. It is an approximate measure of the degree to which results with perceived economic value are generated by the doctoral academic workforce.
S&E doctorates include physical, life, earth, ocean, atmospheric, computer, and social sciences; mathematics; engineering; and psychology. Medical doctorates and S&E doctorates from foreign institutions are excluded.
