MERCED, CA — For the 10 th consecutive year, the University of California is the leader among the nation's universities in developing new patents, according to a report announced this week by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office. The report presents a preliminary list of the U.S. universities receiving the most patents for invention (i.e., utility patents) during the 2003 calendar year.
In 2003, UC recorded a total of 439 patents.
“Academic researchers, and the inventions they patent, are integral to the progress of the science and technology that strengthen the economy, create new jobs and enhance the health and welfare of all Americans,” said Jon Dudas, acting Under Secretary of Commerce for Intellectual Property.
The final list is expected out in December 2004.
In California, UC research and work force development has been crucial in the state's economic growth and global competitiveness, especially in the key industry clusters of biotechnology, telecommunications, information technology and electronics manufacturing. More than 300 R&D-intensive firms in California have been founded by UC scientists and engineers.
In biotech, one in three California R&D firms — and one in six publicly traded firms nationwide — was founded by UC scientists, and 85 percent employ UC alumni with graduate degrees.
In communications, information technology and networking fields, one in six California R&D firms was founded by a UC scientist or engineer and 57 percent employ UC alumni in key executive positions. More than 1,000 California R&D-intensive companies actively engage in research projects with UC scientists and students.
The 10-campus UC system is highly successful in transferring patented technologies to firms that commercialize them, developing new products and services with the potential to give a competitive market-edge and lead to company growth and job creation.
The University of California also fuels competitiveness by educating a continuous stream of next-generation innovators, entrepreneurs and highly skilled R&D workers. UC produces nearly seven percent of the nation's approximately 41,000 new doctoral degrees a year.
A global leader in technology transfer, the University of California entered into more than 2,500 agreements with industry in 2001-02. Many of these cutting-edge R&D projects are in fields directly related to the knowledge industry clusters and thus amplify many of the productivity gains arising from UC research.
In the coming decade, University of California research is also expected to continue to be a major source of productivity gains through Californias R&D industries, adding $5.2 billion and more than 114,000 new jobs in California (2002-11). Whether it is a new variety of strawberry or new computer speech-recognition software, UC moves quickly to advance innovation and discovery from the laboratory to the marketplace and into our homes.
