Researchers at the University of California secured 546 patents from the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office in 2023. This prodigious output was enough to keep UC in the top spot on the latest ranking of universities for patents from the National Academy of Inventors, published today.
UC has topped the organization’s list of universities worldwide with the most U.S. utility patents every year since 2013.
National Academy of Inventors rank of worldwide universities for patents in 2023
| University | Rank | Number of patents |
|---|---|---|
| University of California | 1 | 546 |
| MIT | 2 | 368 |
| University of Texas | 3 | 235 |
| King Fahd University of Petroleum and Minerals | 4 | 216 |
| Stanford University | 5 | 199 |
Patents are an important step in the process of innovation: They incentivize good ideas by protecting an inventor’s ability to make money from their work. UC has rights to over 12,700 active patents from U.S. Patent and Trademark Office — more than any other university in the world.
But the brisk pace of patents doesn’t tell the whole story of innovation at UC. Our researchers logged 1,570 inventions in 2022, the latest year for which we have full numbers, averaging over four new machines, methods or processes per day. Medicine and life sciences accounted for about two-thirds of the $7.5 billion invested in UC research that year, powering the fight against chronic illnesses like heart disease, cancer and Alzheimer’s that plague 6 in 10 U.S. adults.
All these good ideas might not amount to much if the inventions never make it beyond the lab. The UC technology commercialization program links academia and industry, helping UC inventions make it to market, where they can generate jobs and economic growth for California.
UC’s annual Technology Commercialization Report hits some of the high notes from a year of UC inventions: companies licensed 238 inventions from UC and entrepreneurs created 88 startups based on UC inventions. (UC Berkeley nabbed the top spot in the most recent PitchBook ranking of startups founded by undergraduate alumni, and five other UC campuses made the top 100.)
Number of venture-backed startup companies
| University | Rank | Number of companies |
|---|---|---|
| UC Berkeley | 1 | 1,305 |
| Stanford | 2 | 1,297 |
| Harvard | 3 | 1,086 |
| University of Pennsylvania | 4 | 993 |
| MIT | 5 | 949 |
“Our perennial success in securing patents and getting inventions to market reflects our investment in research that tackles society’s most intractable problems,” said UC Vice President for Research and Innovation Theresa Maldonado. “And our entrepreneurial leadership demonstrates our commitment to ensuring that the fruits of UC research benefit all Californians.”
UC's annual Technology Commercialization Report sums up the benefits to California from a year's worth of UC innovation. Read the latest installment here.
