Patent office lists UI ninth of top inventive universities

By Adam Terese

The University placed ninth in a United States Patent and Trademark Office list released last month on the top 10 universities receiving most patents for inventions in 2004.

The University’s 58 patents for 2004 is an increase from 39 patents in 2003, according to a press release from the patent office. The University jumped up 11 spots from 2003, bumping Cornell University and the University of Florida out of the rankings, according to The Chronicle of Higher Education Web site.

California schools led the way, with the University of California taking first for the 11th consecutive year with 424 patents – almost 300 more than the runner-up California Institute of Technology.

According to the patent office’s Web site, a patent for an invention is the grant of a property right to the inventor for 20 years.

Brigid Quinn, deputy director of the Office of Public Affairs of the patent office, said the number of patents received by universities is an indication of their excellence.

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“It is not easy to meet the criteria warranting patent protection,” Quinn said. “A patent symbolizes distinction in invention or discovery, which can translate into prestige and economic reward for universities and others who hold them.”

Mike Fritz, University’s director of the Office of Technology, said he saw the ranking as an indicator to the University’s ability to develop technology with commercial viability.

“What (the ranking) says about the University is that they have incorporated economic development as a part of their mission,” Fritz said. “Six years ago, the president identified economic development as the fourth part of the University’s mission.”

With the expansion of the University’s economic mission, intellectual property protection or patenting is a core function of the technology office, Fritz said. The office then can license these patented technologies to new start-up companies and existing companies.

“To get the exclusive rights extended by the government for a limited period of time, the inventor must provide a written description of the invention in enough detail to allow others to invent around it,” Quinn said. “Entire industries and millions of jobs have been created by this construct which provides powerful motivation for continued innovation by the inventor and by others who in turn improve upon technology.”