IP Outreach Research > IP Use and Awareness

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Main Findings

In 2004, 64% of participating hospitals (versus 58% in 1999, 61% in 2001, and 56% in 2003) and 81% of universities (continuing upward trend, from 62% in 1999 to 68% in 2001 to 78% in 2003) were actively managing (identifying, protecting, promoting and/or commercialising) their intellectual property (IP). In line with this trend, more institutions had IP management infrastructure: 36% of hospitals (versus 32%, 39% and 29% in 1999, 2001 and 2003 respectively) and 71% of universities (versus 60%, 62% and 68% in 1999, 2001 and 2003) had one or more central offices engaged in IP management.

Universities" and hospitals" 2004 operational expenditures on IP management were C$ 36.9 million (1999: C$ 22.0 million; 2001: 28.5 million; 2003: 36.4 million), of which C$ 10.6 million for patent applications and regular legal expenses. IP created at the institution was in the majority of cases owned by the researcher; however, the "no policy on ownership" option increased somewhat. Institutional ownership and "joint ownership of IP " institution(s) and researcher" were the second most popular IP ownership policies. When it comes to researcher requirement to report new IP created, a substantial increase in "always required to report", as well as a notable decrease in "never required to report" were observed in 2004.

In the last 5 years, 51% of universities and affiliated research hospitals have filed a patent application (versus 51% in 2003, 47.4% in 2001, and 47.6% in 1999). In 2004, hospitals and universities filed 1.264 new patent applications (versus 1.252 in 2003, 932 in 2001, and 656 in 1999) and were issued 397 patents (versus 347 in 2003, 381 in 2001, and 349 in 1999). In total, surveyed universities and hospitals held 3.827 patents (up 25.6% from 2003, 79.4% from 2001, and 99.8% from 1999). The percentage of patents commercialised amounted to 44% (down from 45% in 2003). The number of institutions registering copyright continued to be rather low, reflecting the fact that copyright protection is granted automatically in Canada and that many institutions do not keep detailed records of all works concerned by copyright. While in 2004 no industrial designs were registered, a total of 22 trademarks were registered by 8 different institutions. Furthermore, 3 institutions protected 14 new plant varieties.

In 2004, universities and hospitals executed a total of 494 new licenses (versus 422, 320 and 232 in 2003, 2001 and 1999 respectively) and possessed 2.022 active licenses (up 15.2% from 2003, 42% from 2001, and 73.6% from 1999). University and affiliated research hospital royalty income from licensing amounted to C$ 38.6 million (up from C$ 21 million in 1999 and C$ 37.8 million 2003, but down from C$ 47.6 million in 2001). Between 2003 and 2004, total income from IP decreased from C$ 55.5 million to C$ 51.2 million (-8%). To date, universities and their affiliated research hospitals have created a total of 968 spin-off companies to commercialise their technologies, in most cases with a view to licensing technology only (36%; down from 37%, 41% and 46% in 2003, 2001 and 1999 respectively). The value of remaining equity in spin-offs was C$ 49.8 million (up from 45.1 million in 2001, but down from 54.6 million in 1999 and 52.4 million in 2003).

[Date Added: Aug 18, 2008 ]