The fact is, for every income-earning patent, million-dollar winners aside, there are probably three or four losers -- patented research in which companies, for one reason or another, simply aren't interested. University licensing specialists claim that with patenting costs that can run tens of thousands of dollars, they are often content to break even.
"If your goal is to make millions, there are probably less risky ways than trying to commercialize university research results," notes Teri Willey, director of special technology projects in Purdue University's Office of Technology Transfer. Purdue sees a return on its investment in only 10 percent of its patents.
"Most patents never make a nickel," confirms Walter Haessler, president of Cornell Research Foundation Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Cornell University charged with marketing Cornell-based technologies. "Universities aren't in this to make money," he contends. "Only a few make big money.
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