By Marcelo Jauregui-Volpe
The University of California system was top among global universities on an annual ranking for patents granted last year, notching 540, according to a ranking released last week by the National Academy of Inventors (NAI). Other AAU member universities were also near the top of the annual ranking, which counts utility patents granted by the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO).
The “Top 100 Worldwide Universities Granted U.S. Utility Patents” list highlights the crucial role universities play in developing breakthrough technologies through research. Utility patents, according to Forbes, are “issued for the invention of a new and useful process, machine, manufacture, or composition of matter, or a new and useful improvement in those inventions.” Patents are an important step in the transfer of new technologies from the universities and government laboratories where they originate to industry.
“Intellectual property is the lifeblood of innovation and this new report illustrates the tremendous value universities place on their patent portfolios,” said USPTO Acting Director Coke Morgan Stewart in a press statement.
Other AAU-affiliated institutions in the top 10 include the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, the University of Texas system, Purdue University, Stanford University, and Arizona State University. The NAI rankings are based on data provided by USPTO.
These are some of the inventions at AAU institutions that garnered patents in 2024:
- Researchers at the University of South Florida 3-D printed a realistic replica of a human heart, which will help cardiologists test different medical techniques before conducting them on a human heart.
- A lab at Rutgers New Jersey Medical School developed a new lab procedure for diagnosing and treating Lyme disease and other tick-borne diseases.
- A team at the Purdue Polytechnic Institute created a robotic system that helps automate the placing and fastening of construction materials. Researchers developed this system in response to the rising demand for residential buildings.
Marcelo Jauregui-Volpe is editorial and communications assistant at AAU.