Shubha Ghosh Professor of Law Associate Director, INSITE University of Wisconsin, Madison GOALS FOR PRESENTATION Background Major Issues Policy Concerns 2
My Background PhD in Economics from Michigan and JD from Stanford Legal policy related to regulation of marketplace and innovation policy Law school teaching for thirteen years Publications in the area of intellectual property theory and policy, legal theory, and institutions 3 University of Wisconsin, Madison Flagship of Wisconsin system, founded in 1848 13 four year universities in system Public university Less than 40 % funds from state 20 schools Nearly 40,000 students at undergraduate, graduate and professional schools 2054 faculty $ 913m in research expenditures in 06-07 #5 in nation for federally funded research # 1 in non-federally funded research #2 in total research expenditures 4
Breakdown of research expenditure Sources of research expenditures at university (06-07 AY) 62.2 % federal grants/contracts 25.2 % gifts and endowments 3.5 % revolving funds 9.0 % state taxes 5 Research Expenditures by School Medicine and Public Health: 31 % Graduate School: 18.5 % Letters and Sciences: 15 % Agricultural and Life Sciences: 14.6 % Engineering: 9.4 % Other units: Education, Veterinary Medicine, Pharmacy, Business, Environmental Studies, Law, Human Ecology 6
The Wisconsin Idea President Van Hise in 1904 Progressive Political tradition Boundaries of State are the boundaries of the University 7 Wisconsin Alumni Research Foundation (WARF) Established in 1925 Professor Harry Steenbock and Vitamin D Warfarin in 1941 Since 1925 Over 1900 patents Over $ 900m to UW-Madison Endowment of $ 2 billion Licensing of technology Royalty-free license for academic research 8
WARF Initiatives WISys: founded in 2000 to support technology transfer in UW system WiCell: manage stem cell technology Awarded NIH contract in 2005 for embryonic stem cell bank Start-ups and technology incubator Nimblegen Tomotherapy OpGen Inc Third Wave Technologies Quintessence Neoclone Cambria Biosciences 9 Coming Soon (2010) WID-MIR Wisconsin Institute for Discovery Morgridge Institute for Research Public-private partnership Identify research projects Pre-incubator stage Legal clinic to support entrepreneurship and technology transfer 10
Policy Issues regarding ownership Intellectual Property Patenting of stem cells Foundation for Taxpayer and Consumer Rights challenging three of WARF s stem cell patents WARF s exclusive license to Geron Patents limited in re-examination procedure and are currently in litigation Issue of patenting in biotech and biomedical areas Broader ethical issues Policy Issues Regarding University Research Role of university Foundational versus applied research Commercialization, advocacy, and neutrality Obligations of a public university The Wisconsin Idea 11
Regional Development Silicon Valley and Cambridge as models Knowledge spillovers Startup environment University entrepreneurs 13 Entrepreneurship Self-sufficiency and autonomy Promote relevance of academic research Social mindedness Market ethos? Decline of government sphere? Ideal: social participation and activism 14
Financing Before the downturn VC financing VC in for the short term Treatment of inventor Angel investors After the downturn Public-private initiatives? Role of the federal government? 15 Start up Figures 600,000 new companies are started in the United States each year 350,000 self funded 200,000 friend and family 50,000 angels 1,200 venture capitalists 16
Financing Ventures 17 Angel Investors Increase of networks Wisconsin-6 networks in 2004 to 20 in 2008 Wisconsin Angel Network (WAN) Facilitates deal pipeline between angels and entrepreneurs Terms have become more complicated but still generally less onerous than venture capital terms. 2007 57,120 angel deals in U.S. totaling $26 billion Wisconsin $147 million in angel investing and 36 deals Average deal size is $150,000 to $275,000 for angel groups. 18
VC Funding and Other Sources 2007 3,918 deals nationwide $30 billion Boston & Silicon Valley make up 1,714 of deals $14.6 billion 21 deals in Wisconsin $90 million Other funding sources SBIR/STTR Other federal grants State government Wisconsin Department of Commerce State tax credits Wisconsin Act 255 Lending 19 My niche Intellectual property law and policy Transactional view of lawyering Lawyering as contributing to value Education on social policy issues and institutional reform 20
The Future? University as dynamic institution Role of lawyering in creating value Networking across boundaries Breaking down boundaries in the university 21