Purdue improves to top 5 for utility patents
A new ranking released Wednesday from the National Academy of Inventors shows Purdue University has moved up one position to No. 5 in the world for the U.S. utility patents. The Purdue Research Foundation received 192 patents from the U.S. Patent & Trademark Office in 2022.
Purdue was ranked No. 6 in the world in 2020 and 2021, when it received 175 and 169 patents, respectively.
Among the patented innovations at Purdue are a system that processes agricultural field images for remote phenotype measurements, a 3D printer that continuously prints structures as small as 100 nanometers, and a process that produces butylene, propylene and ethylene from natural gas liquids in shale gas.
The university said in its 2022 fiscal year, the Purdue Office of Technology Commercialization filed 699 patent applications with the USPTO and international patent organizations. Purdue received a total of 239 U.S. and international patents.
Since 2001, Purdue has received 2,871 patents from U.S. and international organizations.
The ranking comes less than a week after the university unveiled its Purdue Innovates initiative, designed to streamline access and support for commercialization of intellectual property developed by faculty, students and alumni, as well as startup creation.
“We wanted to create an ecosystem that embraced all Boilermakers by supporting both Purdue-owned intellectual property and startups that have their own intellectual property but have some other connection to Purdue, such as an alum,” said Purdue Innovates Senior Vice President Brooke Beier. “Solidifying the university core while engaging and leveraging the Boilermaker network is key to enhancing Purdue’s ability to become the preeminent university in commercialization and startup success.”
Indiana University is the only other Hoosier institution to make the list, tied at No. 74 with 46 patents.
The rest of the top five includes the University of California (570 patents); Massachusetts Institute of Technology (334 patents); King Fahd University of Petroleum and Minerals in Saudi Arabia (233 patents); and the University of Texas (225 patents).
You can view the full list by clicking here.