No competitive or technology assesment or search for new technologies in the biomedical, biotechnology or pharmaceutical areas is complete without using this database. If you are interested in licensing and collaborative research and development opportunities, you can't afford to ignore federal laboratories. The federal government and NIH each have the largest and by far the most important portfolios of inventions available for licensing in the biomedical, biotechnology, pharmaceutical and healthcare-related areas. The federal and NIH patent portfolios rank number one in terms of U.S.-based research and development. Their patent portfolios rank among the very largest, along with the world's largest multinational pharmaceutical companies.
All federal inventions are available for licensing, unlike most industry inventions.
Federal inventions tend to be broader and more fundamental than industry inventions with fewer defensive and redundant patents. An large number of unexploited opportunities are available. The database documents hundreds of cases of successful technology transfers. Federal laboratories and NIH are the single most important sources for new technologies for the U.S. biotechnology, pharmaceutical and healthcare industries. Federal labs and NIH are number one in terms of licensing and collaborations in these areas.