If you are a professor at the College and you have genetically engineered a plant which removes hazardous materials from soil and water, you would probably want to take a trip down Rope Ferry Road.
There, you would find the Technology Transfer Office, where Dartmouth faculty members can obtain patents for their creations.
Biology Professor Mary Lou Guerinot discovered the technique to genetically alter plants so they can weed out hazardous waste, and the TTO is currently seeking licenses for it.
Engineering Professor Victor Petrenko is also waiting for a patent on his latest invention -- a de-icer which can be used on airplanes. The de-icer works by creating an electric field between surfaces like airplane wings and ice. Adhesion is drastically reduced, but the corrosion associated with current methods of de-icing is avoided.
Professors submit proposals to the TTO for their research, but because of the large legal costs involved with obtaining a patent -- estimated by TTO Director Alla Kan to be at least $20,000 -- approximately half of the proposals are rejected. Last year, patents were sought by the College for nine of 16 proposals submitted.
"We look at two things -- if the invention is patentable by US law, and at the commercial potential of the invention," Kan said.
The TTO is also responsible for licensing Dartmouth-held patents to corporations for profit. In 1996, there were 43 licensees, generating income of over $600,000.
One of the biggest licenses is for a chemical created by Microbiology Professor Randy Noelle. The chemical suppresses the body's immune responses. IDEC Pharmaceuticals licensed the invention from the College for an amount which Kan would not disclose, but, he said, it is seven-figure range.
Fifty percent of the net profits of licensing go to the inventor, and the remaining money is distributed mainly to the department and laboratory where the research originated.
Such profits are not assured however.
"You cannot predict for sure which inventions will be winners and which will be losers," Kan said, "I would bet half of the patents are losers."
Even so, during the last three fiscal years, the College averaged $200,000 per year in profits, before the money was distributed to the various departments.
The TTO, with its two employees, is smaller than most other Ivy League patent offices, but is comparable when federal research dollars are taken into account.
In 1995, the College ranked first among the Ivies for active licenses per federal research funding, but fifth for royalty income as a percent of federal research support.
