The University of California is No. 1 in a National Academy of Inventors ranking of U.S. schools granted the most U.S. utility patents by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office released on March 19.

Why it matters

• Patents are a key driver in helping America keep its edge over China, India and other global economies
• Patents help ensure Americans get access to the world’s best innovations in health, technology, and more, first

Why our university matters

• Return on investment: UC leads in federal research funding, and delivers results
• UC is also no. 1 in the world, per the National Academy of Inventors
• UC produces nearly twice as many patents as the second-place university in the U.S.
• UC generates more patents than government agencies and nonprofits, including the Department of Energy
• UC leads on foundational science (75 Nobel Prizes, more than any other university) while also leading on commercialization, impacting daily life

How it happens

• The bipartisan Bayh-Dole Act of 1980 allowed universities, small businesses and nonprofits to own inventions from federally funded research and license new technology to companies
• It also incentivized universities to invest a share of the revenue from licensing federally funded inventions back into innovation and commercialization
• This policy change gave inventors both the incentive and the means to bring their work to market
• Before the Bayh-Dole Act, federal agencies had only licensed 1,400 inventions to companies. Fast forward to 2024, when U.S. universities licensed 9,500 inventions to industry — in a single year

By the numbers

• UC has rights to over 6,800 active patents from the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office
• University patents generated 1.9 trillion in economic output, created 6.5 million U.S. jobs and launched more than 19,000 startups from 1996-2020, per The Association of University Technology Managers

More on the National Academy of Inventors and the ranking

• The Top 100 U.S. Universities List is an annual ranking compiled using calendar year patent data from the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO)
• The National Academy of Inventors is a member organization comprising U.S. and international universities, governmental agencies, nonprofit research institutes, and corporate/industry organizations with more than 4,600 individual members affiliated with more than 260 institutions worldwide
• 162 UC faculty are members

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