brokering and financing. IP marketplaces Intellectual Property marketplaces are Internet-based platforms that allow innovators to connect with potential partners and/or clients. For example, online platform WIPO GREEN enable collaborations in specific areas of knowledge transfer and facilitate matchmaking between technology providers and technology seekers. Government and intellectual property support There has been a marked increase in technology transfer intermediaries specialized in their field since 1980, stimulated in large part by the Bayh–Dole Act and equivalent legislation in other countries, which provided additional incentives for research exploitation. Due to the increasing focus on technology transfer there are several forms of intermediary institutions at work in this sector, from TTOs to IP 'trolls' that act outside the Bayh–Dole Act provisions. Due to the risk of exploitation, intellectual property policy, training and systems support for technology transfer by government, research institutes and universities, have been international and regionally-focused organisation, such as the World Intellectual Property Organisation and the European Union. Partnership intermediaries The U.S. government's annual budget funds over $100 billion in research and development activity, which leads to a continuous pipeline of new inventions and technologies from within government laboratories. Through legislation including the Bayh–Dole Act, Congress encourages the private sector to use those technologies with commercial potential through technology transfer mechanisms such as Cooperative Research and Development Agreements, Patent License Agreements, Educational Partnership Agreements, and state/local government partnerships. The term "partnership intermediary" means an agency of a state or local government—or a nonprofit entity owned, chartered, funded, or operated by or on behalf of a state or local government—that assists, counsels, advises, evaluates, or otherwise cooperates with small business firms; institutions of higher education defined in section 201(a) of the Higher Education Act of 1965 (20 USC § 1141 [a]); or educational institutions within the meaning of section 2194 of Title 10, United States Code, that need or can make demonstrably productive use of technology-related assistance from a federal laboratory, including state programs receiving funds under cooperative agreements entered into under section 5121 of the Omnibus Trade and Competitiveness Act of 1988 (15 USC § 2781). Technology transfer facilitation during COVID-19 pandemic Technology transfer had a direct impact on contributing to global public health issues, by enabling global access to COVID-19 vaccines. During 2021, vaccine developers concluded over 200 technology transfer agreements. One example was AstraZeneca concluding the licensing and technology transfer agreements on AstraZeneca with the Serum Institute of India