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UMass Medical School led the way in the five-campus system, with 32 of 56 patents awarded. |
Highlighting its growing research and development impact, the University of Massachusetts has again placed in the top 40 on the Top 100 Worldwide Universities Granted U.S. Patents in 2016 list by the National Academy of Inventors.
Winning 58 patents arising from faculty inventions, UMass ranked at number 36 on the list and 30 among American universities. UMass Medical School led the way in the five-campus system with 32 patents awarded.
“This ranking highlights the ingenuity of our faculty and the growing impact of our research enterprise, which is improving quality of life and creating new commercial ventures across the state,” said UMass President Marty Meehan. “I’m proud of the tremendous discovery happening on our five campuses that directly supports our mission to advance knowledge, transform lives and serve the commonwealth.”
The patents are based on UMass research in areas as diverse as weight-bearing adhesives, vaccines, flame-retardant polymers, RNA Interference technology (RNAi) and prosthetic limbs, according to Abigail Barrow, interim executive director of the university's Office of Technology Commercialization and Ventures.
UMass conducts more than $632 million in annual research and development across all five campuses and brings more than $300 million into Massachusetts each year through grants from federal agencies, including the NIH, DOD and NASA. UMass continues to be a national leader among universities in licensing income earned on its patented inventions; in the first three quarters of FY17, UMass filed 156 patent applications, had 48 patents issued, launched eight start-up companies and generated more than $30 million dollars in licensing revenue.
“Congratulations to the University of Massachusetts for making the Top 100 again this year and for continuing to secure an impressive number of patents,” said Paul R. Sanberg, president of the National Academy of Inventors (NAI), which produces the rankings along with the Intellectual Property Owners Association (IPO).
Founded in 2010, the NAI is a nonprofit organization of universities and governmental and nonprofit research institutions with more than 4,000 members. The IPO is a trade association of owners of patents, trademarks, copyrights and trade secrets founded in 1972.
The NAI and IPO have published the report annually since 2013. Rankings are compiled by calculating the number of utility patents granted by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office, which list a university as the first assignee on the issued patent.
