Page 1 Page 2 Page 3 Page 4 Page 5 Page 6 Page 7 Page 8 Page 9 Page 10 Page 11 Page 12 Page 13 Page 14 Page 15 Page 16 Page 17 Page 18 Page 19 Page 20 Page 21 Page 22 Page 23 Page 24 Page 25 Page 26 Page 27 Page 28 Page 29 Page 30 Page 31 Page 32 Page 33 Page 34 Page 35 Page 36 Page 37 Page 38 Page 39 Page 4019 Annual Report 2016 19 Royalties During FY 2016, U.S. businesses sold roughly $13 million in products, processes, and innovations based on INL patented technologies. Use of INL technologies in domestic and global markets has created jobs and increased U.S. global competitiveness. Commercial markets have been very accepting of INL-developed technologies. From FY 2005 to FY 2016, INL signed 823 licenses to commercialize technologies developed within the laboratory. This success is a result of excellent research and strong laboratory support. INL ’s support strategy provides for necessary investments that will achieve optimal mission-related returns. Since the inception of BEA’s contract, INL has earned more than $17 .5 million in royalties. It reflects a strong, expanding portfolio of IP , as well as increased attention to commercialization of INL discoveries, inventions and current IP . During FY 2016, INL received more than $1.3 million in royalty receipts. (Figure 3) Royalties are an important signal that INL innovations are meeting market needs. It should be noted that it takes time and persistence for inventions to mature into products that generate royalties. INL continues to encourage innovation and to reinvest a significant portion of the royalty revenues to promote development of promising new early-stage technologies emerging from INL ’s ongoing R&D programs. Figure 3. Royalties received FY 2011–2016. $3.5M $3M $2.5M $2M $1.5M $1M $0 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 Expenditure of royalty funds is governed by federal regulations and the funds must be used in ways that support technology transfer activities. Roughly 30% of royalty funds received by INL are shared with inventors of royalty generating technologies. Additional money is spent to recognize and reward inventors and other employees who have supported technology transfer activities throughout the laboratory, independent of the technology having commercial applications. The remaining funds are reinvested in technology transfer activities throughout the laboratory. Reinvestment is directed from two funds, the Science and Technology Strategic Investments Fund (SIF) and Innovation Development Fund (IDF). SIF is focused on funding R&D capabilities that will lead to new technology development and increase the potential for INL to generate new business. A key to the success of these maturation investments will be INL ’s ability to engage industry whose own resources and expertise are essential in advancing future generations of INL technologies. IDF projects have permitted development of stronger relationships with industry, yielding exceptional return on investment to the U.S. public from INL research. Focusing on commercial results has enabled IDF’s success. In FY 2016, $1.1 million was reinvested into laboratory technology transfer activities. A selected summary of projects is provided in Table 1. INL resources were amplified due to DOE’s Technology Commercialization Fund (TCF), which provided matching funds to select mature promising energy technologies with potential for high impact. See the TCF article on page 36.