University Of California System Leads All Universities Worldwide For Most Patents

The University of California system led the world in 2022 for the number of U.S. utility patents awarded to a university. Across its 10 campuses and six academic health centers, the UC system received 570 patents, outpacing runner up MIT by more than 200 patents.

Utility patents are patents granted for inventions. They 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. They generally permit their owners to exclude others from making, using, or selling the invention for a period of up to twenty years.

The list for 2022 was compiled by the National Academy of Inventors (NAI) in its report, Top 100 Worldwide Universities Granted Utility Patents. The report relies on data from the U.S. Patent and Trademark office to create its list, which NAI compiles annually.

The top 20 universities worldwide were:

University of California 570

Massachusetts Institute of Technology 343

King Fahd University Of Petroleum and Minerals 233

The University of Texas 225

Purdue University 192

Stanford University 184

Harvard University 179

King Abdulaziz University 177

California Institute of Technology 164

Arizona State University 160

Johns Hopkins University 159

Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology 147

University of Michigan 145

Seoul National University 144

Zhejiang University 142

University of Florida Research Foundation 139

Wisconsin Alumni Research Foundation (University of Wisconsin) 132

Duke University 126

University of Colorado 115

University of Pennsylvania 108

Of the top 20 universities, 15 were located in the United States, and 38 American institutions are included in the top 50 universities.

Commenting on the University of California’s ranking, Theresa Maldonado, UV Vice President for Research and Innovation, said in a news release from the university, “the UC system has a vibrant culture of innovation, entrepreneurship and cross-disciplinary collaboration across our 10 campuses, so it’s gratifying to see that reflected in this ranking from the National Academy of Inventors. As a public institution, our faculty and researchers are working to improve lives every day with their groundbreaking work.”