Over the past few decades, Penn has made great strides in a number of fields. However, in one area in particular we continue to lag behind our peers: the amount of licensing income generated by our inventions.
Unfortunately, Penn hasn't really done anything of major significance in the way of inventions since the 1970s and it shows. For instance, as a large research university Penn received close to $650 million in grant money from the National Institute of Health during 2003. Yet Penn's income from invention licenses was only slightly more than $10 million that year. Several universities, including Harvard and Stanford, were able to generate much more licensing income with far less grant money.
It's obvious that something needs to be done to improve Penn's patent income and the Keystone Innovation Zone in University City is certainly a step in the right direction. With its state-tax credits for start-up technology companies, the KIZ will hopefully bring more innovative researchers and developers to the area starting next year. What's more, the university itself stands to gain financially through state-tax breaks for its newly patented products.
Additionally, Penn has revised its patent policy so that researchers can keep a larger percentage of the income generated by their patents. This will act as a financial lure for many of the best and brightest researchers across the county.
All of these efforts have the potential to staunch the Philadelphia brain drain by encouraging bright young people to make their discoveries in the thick of University City. Ultimately, they will increase the prestige and income of both the neighborhood around Penn and the city itself.
Encouraging a culture of innovation and scholarship in university communities should always be a priority for the state of Pennsylvania. This could be Penn's chance to make a breakthrough.
