mit_impact_full_report

on Patent Policy was formed to address issues of
ownership of inventions and discoveries stemming
from research done at the Institute. In 1945, the
Patent, Copyright and Licensing Office was
established as part of the MIT Division of Sponsored
Research, one of the earliest university efforts of its
type in America. It became a separate entity and was
renamed the Technology Licensing Office in 1985. As
its formal function had been to facilitate patent
applications, and to execute copyright and patent
licenses with industry, government agencies, and
other research institutions, the Patents office had
been dominated by lawyers. With the 1985 entry of
John Preston as director and Lita Nelsen ’66 as
associate director, the lawyers were ousted and the
TLO dramatically reoriented toward playing a far
more active role in technology transfer. In that initial
TLO year, the office put together eight to ten
agreements with industry and registered
approximately 120 invention disclosures. The latest
figures average eighty to 100 agreements and about
500 disclosures per year, now under Nelsen’s
directorship for many years. The current TLO Web site
describes its mission as “to benefit the public by
moving results of MIT research into societal use via
technology licensing, through a process that is
consistent with academic principles, demonstrates a
concern for the welfare of students and faculty, and
conforms to the highest ethical standards.” It assists
MIT inventors in protecting their technology and in
An Evolving MIT Internal Entrepreneurial Ecosystem
Table 15
MIT Factors Important to Venture Founding (from limited sample only)
Graduation Decade 1950s 1960s 1970s 1980s 1990s
(N=73) (N=111) (N=147) (N=144) (N=145)
Students 26% 24% 38% 50% 66%
Faculty 48% 42% 37% 28% 37%
Research 32% 32% 30% 26% 33%
*Respondents could check all relevant categories
Proportion Rating University Factors as Important in Venture Founding* (percentage)
licensing that technology to existing companies
and startups.
The TLO’s licensees fall into three categories—
well-established (large) companies, small (often local)
companies, and startups. Although the TLO’s licenses,
in numbers, divide roughly evenly into the three
categories, the majority of the exclusive licenses—the
ones that fulfill TLO’s mission to encourage the
development of truly innovative technologies
requiring significant investment—go to startup
companies.
The primary reason for the TLO’s strategic
dependence on startup companies has been the
reluctance of large companies to invest in “universitystage”
technologies, because the risk and cost of
development is high and the time to market is long.
In many fields (e.g., pharmaceuticals) the large
companies have become dependent on startups to
bring university-stage technology into proven product
concepts, after which the large companies license the
product from the startup or acquire the young
company. But the TLO’s effectiveness in this strategy
depends on venture investors’ willingness to invest in
early-stage technology, somewhat scarce in recent
years following the burst of the “dot-com” bubble
and very scarce in the current severe economic
downturn. The TLO strives to maintain a “level
playing field” among many venture capital firms to
attract them toward MIT startup opportunities by
communicating fairness and openness. Fortunately,
ENTREPRENEURIAL IMPACT: THE ROLE OF MIT 57