Australian medical patents granted in the United States in 1984-1999

Objective: To describe ail medical patents granted in the United States to Australian-resident inventors between 1984 and 1999. Data sources: All patent data originated from the US Patent and Trademark O ffice. Data for 1984-1994 were compiled by CHI Research inc, and data for 1 995-1999 were obtained from the Community of Science website. Main outcome measures: Number of medical patents granted in the US to Austr alian-resident inventors; assignees (owners) of these medical patents; prop ortion of these medical patents related to biotechnology. Results: From 1984 to 1999, 7835 utility patents were granted in the US to Australian-resident inventors. Of these, 1308 patents (17%) were identified as medical patents; 489 (37%) of these were biotechnology patents. Medical patents account for an increasing proportion of all US patents granted to Australian inventors, increasing from 10% in 1984 to 25% in 1999. Biotechno logy accounted for an increasing proportion of medical patents, rising from 10% to 55% between 1984 and 1999. More than half the medical patents are o wned by commercial interests, and 33% by only 14 organisations, six of whic h are universities and their affiliated institutions. Conclusion:Only a few organisations account for most of the patenting of me dical technology. The inventors and their organisations listed on medical p atents could be canvassed when developing government policy and targeted fo r support in commercialising their medical technology.