Campus Highlights: UC Santa Cruz

Campus Notes:

The number of new inventions disclosed by UCSC investigators more than tripled from FY96 to FY97. As a result, patenting activity also increased dramatically and the number of patent filings more than tripled.

In FY96 and FY97, income was generated from minimum royalties on one licensed invention, Synthesis of Beta-Carotene. The patent on this invention has now expired and no further income will be received.

Due to the increase in patent prosecution activity, and because new inventions were being actively marketed but were not yet licensed, net legal expenses increased substantially. If licensees are identified, patent costs may be recovered at a later time. The State share calculation reflected a credit in both FY96 and FY97 because net legal expenses plus inventor share payments exceeded income in each year. The rise in operating costs reflected efforts to license newly discovered inventions.

The recent increases in disclosure, patenting and licensing activity resulted in a larger net loss of $103,000 for FY97.