With help from the state, the Princeton-Rutgers research corridor could be a powerhouse.
By: Vic Monaco
The Princeton area has evolved in the last five to 10 years into one of the top five regions in the country for high-tech businesses, if not the top one or two, but it has done so without much national recognition or state promotion, according to Dick Woodbridge, a patent attorney and former Princeton Township mayor and former Princeton Borough councilman.
"The Wall Street Journal did a survey of the high-tech centers in this country and didn’t even mention the Princeton-Rutgers research corridor. I think the reason for that is that the State of New Jersey has never really bought into and understood the fundamental concept of a high-tech region in the state," said Mr. Woodbridge as he spoke Sept. 18 before the Princeton Rotary Club at the Nassau Inn.
An attorney specializing in trademarks and copyrights as well as patents, Mr. Woodbridge began with a verbal, three-question pop quiz, the answers to which surprised some of the luncheon attendees. Citing different publications, Mr. Woodbridge said:
- Princeton is the dotcom capital of the country in terms of dotcom domain names issued per capita (according to Inter-NIC);
- Princeton is second only to San Jose, Calif. as the most inventive place in the country, boasting one patent for every 122 residents (according to the Philadelphia Inquirer); and
- Venture capital firms invested primarily in the biotech field put Princeton in their top three places to locate, along with San Francisco and Boston (according to the book "From Alchemy to IPO, the Business of BioTechnology").
"What I typically find is that people are surprised to discover how much biotech and how much electronics and computer activity is going on and has increased in the last five to 10 years," said Mr. Woodbridge, who is a senior partner and founder of Princeton-based Woodbridge and Associates and has had an office specializing in patents in the area since 1974.
Growth among high-tech businesses along Route 1 from Princeton to New Brunswick, also known as the Princeton-Rutgers research corridor, has been caused by several factors, Mr. Woodbridge said. They include the New Jersey high-tech bond issue of the late 1980s, the establishment of the New Jersey Technology Council, the decision of Sarnoff Corp. to actively produce spinoff companies and a continued healthy venture capital community.
"We’ve had even more subtle influences such as the influx of every major Philadelphia law firm into this area," he said. "Everybody and their brother is coming here. Whether they’re supposed to be here, I don’t know. But I would say it certainly lends a lot of credibility to the area as a place to do business.
"Primarily, I think it’s location, location location," he added. "We’re in a place where there are good schools, there’s vacant land and even in bad times, things don’t get as bad as other places."
And, he said, there are encouraging signs that things could get even better.
Princeton University’s new president, Shirley Tilghman, has a "strong background (in science)," he said. "High-tech powerhouses like (the technology-focused law firm) Hale and Dorr have moved in and tragically, I suspect, we will probably benefit a little bit from the sad events of last Tuesday, pushing some of the ‘Silicon Alley’ activities into this area."
Despite all the positives, Mr. Woodbridge said things could be better if the state helped out more. Specifically, he said, the state has balked at designating the Princeton-Rutgers research corridor as New Jersey’s high-tech region.
"I think they’re afraid to say this place is our high-tech region for fear of offending some other sections," he said.
Designating the corridor as such, he said, would bring the publicity and attention it deserves.
After his talk, Mr. Woodbridge said he and others have tried for the last 10 years "to get the state to buy into this but basically it’s fallen on deaf ears."
In addition to designating the area’s Route 1 corridor as the state’s high-tech region, he said, the state could establish a formal commission to address issues affecting the corridor, such as work training, education for scientists and support staff, zoning and infrastructure.

