Patent Transfers by University/Research Institutes in the US (2018-2020)

  • February 19, 2021

We studied the patent reassignment activities by the Universities in the US between 2018-20. A total of 5201 patents were transferred by various universities and research institutes to 684 different assignees and 145 groups of individual inventors.

Most of the university/research institutes transferred their patent rights to federal agencies. The share of federal agencies in university patent reassignment is more than 65% where NIH alone is part of more than 36% of reassignments.

Top 50 University/Research Institutes with Most Patent Transfers

University/Research InstituteNo. of Patents
Johns Hopkins University210
University Of California200
University Of Pennsylvania125
Massachusetts Institute Of Technology121
University Of Utah109
Duke University105
University Of Colorado101
University Of Michigan93
Ohio State University85
Arizona State University85
Harvard University69
State University Of New York67
University Of Wisconsin Madison67
California Institute Of Technology62
University Of New Mexico58
University Of Virginia58
University Of Alabama At Birmingham56
The Feinstein Institute For Medical Research53
University Of Pittsburgh53
Georgia Institute Of Technology51
Cornell University51
Vanderbilt University49
Battelle Memorial Institute45
University Of Washington42
Howard Hughes Medical Institute42
University Of Texas Medical Anderson Cancer Center39
Emory University38
Yale University37
University Of Florida36
University Of Illinois36
Sanford Burnham Prebys Medical Discovery Institute35
Augusta University35
Purdue University34
Texas A&M University System33
Industrial Technology Research Institute33
Indiana University33
Washington University32
Columbia University31
The University Of Chicago30
University Of Rochester30
University Of North Carolina At Chapel Hill30
Scripps Research Institute29
University Of Arizona28
University Of Notre Dame28
Institute Of Virology Of The Slovak Academy Of Sciences28
University Industry Foundation Yonsei University26
Case Western Reserve University26
Princeton University25
Wayne State University25
University Of South Florida25
Boston University25

Year-wise Patent Transfer by the Top 5 Universities/Research Institutes

The number of patents transactions by universities/research institutes has shown a declining trend over the year. In 2020, there were 688 patent reassignments by universities in the US which is 73.6% less than in 2018.

YearNo. of Patent
20182615
20191898
2020688

The table below provides details of number of patent reassignment deals by the top 5 universities/research institutes.

YearJohns HopkinsUniversity Of CaliforniaUniversity Of PennsylvaniaMITUniversity Of Utah
201893107857639
20198763234063
202030301757

Assignees of the Top 3 Universities/Research Institutes Patents

Johns Hopkins University (210 Patents)

AssigneePatent Count
NIH178
National Science Foundation19
United States Department Of The Navy4
United States Department Of Energy4
United States Department Of The Army2
Midiagnostics Nv1
Mrdc1
United States Department Of The Air Force1

University of California (200 Patents)

AssigneePatent Count
NIH85
United States Department Of Energy52
National Science Foundation30
United States Department Of Veterans Affairs | University Of California10
United States Department Of The Army9
United States Department Of Veterans Affairs5
Individual Inventors3
United States Department Of The Navy3
King Abdulaziz City For Science And Technology | University Of California1
Youhealth Biotech Limited1
California Institute Of Technology1

University Of Pennsylvania (125 Patents)

AssigneePatent Count
NIH101
National Science Foundation16
United States Department Of Energy5
Novartis | University Of Pennsylvania2
Agios Pharmaceuticals1

Top 50 Organizations that purchased/licensed university/research institutes patents

The table below provides detail of the top 50 organizations that get patent rights transferred from various universities/research institutes in the US.

AssigneesPatents
NIH1914
National Science Foundation858
United States Department Of Energy344
Independent Inventor145
United States Department Of The Navy54
The Feinstein Institute For Medical Research53
United States Department Of The Army52
NASA45
STC UNM43
United States Department Of Veterans Affairs38
Technion Research & Development Foundation Limited23
Defense Threat Reduction Agency23
Scripps Research Institute20
LBL Biotechnology, Inc20
Enedym Inc19
NUtech Ventures18
Cambridge Display Technology18
Musc Foundation For Research Development17
Crowpierce Technologies Llc14
Cyberdyne Inc14
Hkbu R&D Licensing Limited13
Myriota Pty Ltd12
Technological Resources Pty Limited11
Personal Genomics Taiwan Inc10
Samsung9
Immunova LLC9
Ebt Medical Inc9
Superd Technology Co Ltd8
FotoNation Inc8
CapitalBio Corporation 8
NDSU Research Foundation7
Imagineoptix Corporation7
Huawei7
C2Cnt LLC7
Dedrone Holdings Inc7
Air Force Office Of Scientific Research7
Realta Holdings Llc6
ReNeuron6
Nagoya University6
Procter & Gamble6
SK Hynix6
Claremont Biosolutions Inc6
Blackbird Tech Llc6
Acer6
S Biomedics5
Nxtsens Microsystems Inc5
Toyota5
Seattle Children’S Hospital5
Changchun Flexible Display Technology Co Ltd5
Chongqing Gigachip Technology Co Ltd5

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Our comprehensive report provides an in-depth look into the patent portfolio. The report includes a breakdown of the patent portfolio across various technologies, listing the patent along with brief summaries of each patent's technology.