Albuquerque, NM – July 1, 2015 The National Academy of Inventors (NAI) and the Intellectual Property Owners Association (IPO) released their list of the Top 100 universities and research organizations worldwide receiving U.S. patents in 2014. The rankings recognize academic institutions as inventive powerhouses in the development of new technologies that have received U.S. patents. The University of New Mexico is ranked 42 among the top 100 for number of issued patents received in 2014 for its inventions.
This is the second year UNM has placed in the top 100. Last year UNM placed 56th. UNM’s technology-transfer and economic-development organization, STC.UNM (STC), is responsible for filing patents on university technologies so that they can be licensed by companies and form the basis of new companies. STC CEO Lisa Kuuttila stated, “The recognition by NAI and IPO reinforces what we already know about UNM-that it has a strong innovation culture.”
The joint report, “Top 100 Worldwide Universities Granted U.S. Utility Patents 2014,” used data from the U. S. Patent and Trademark Office to compile their rankings. Patents play an important role in the innovation process and ultimately impact local and national economic development. Patented university inventions gives inventors, entrepreneurs and investors the protection they need to develop and invest in new technologies without the threat of infringement. The creation of and investment in new companies and the jobs they produce make research universities major contributors to the growth of local and national economies.
See Kevin Robinson-Avila’s June 27th article, “UNM a top patent winner,” from the Albuquerque Journal, reprinted below.
Visit the NAI website at http://www.academyofinventors.org/press-releases.asp to read the NAI-IPO press release. To view the top 100 list go to www.academyofinventors.org/pdf/NAI-IPO-Top-100-Universities-2014.pdf.
About the National Academy of Inventors
The National Academy of Inventors is a 501(c)(3) non-profit member organization comprising U.S. and international universities, and governmental and non-profit research institutions, with over 3,000 individual inventor members and Fellows spanning more than 200 institutions, and growing rapidly. It was founded in 2010 to recognize and encourage inventors with patents issued from the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office, enhance the visibility of academic technology and innovation, encourage the disclosure of intellectual property, educate and mentor innovative students, and translate the inventions of its members to benefit society. www.academyofinventors.org
About the Intellectual Property Owners Association
Intellectual Property Owners Association (IPO), established in 1972, is a trade association for owners of patents, trademarks, copyrights and trade secrets. IPO is the only association in the U.S. that serves all intellectual property owners in all industries and all fields of technology. As owners of intellectual property we believe that intellectual property rights accelerate the innovation, creativity, and investment necessary to address major global challenges and improve lives. www.ipo.org
UNM a top patent winner
By Kevin Robinson-Avila / Journal Staff Writer
PUBLISHED: Thursday, June 25, 2015 at 3:50 pm
The University of New Mexico is garnering national and international recognition for its efforts to patent and market its research, and for its leadership in innovation and economic development.
UNM scored 42nd this year on a list of 100 universities and research organizations worldwide that received U.S. patents in 2014. It’s the second year in a row that UNM has made the list, which is compiled annually by the National Academy of Inventors and the Intellectual Property Owners Association. Last year, it ranked 56th.
“We are so pleased that we have made a significant jump in the rankings,” said Lisa Kuuttila, UNM’s chief economic development officer and president and CEO of the Science and Technology Corp., UNM’s tech-transfer office. “The University of New Mexico has first-class researchers who create first-class technologies that have great marketability for new products in so many industries in healthcare to semiconductors.”
Achieving patents is a key part of UNM’s efforts to commercialize new university inventions. That’s because intellectual property protection provides a critical enticement for investors to license and market new technologies.
“Patent protection makes the university an important player for commercialization in the international marketplace,” Kuuttila said. “Without IP protection, investors won’t invest in your technology.”
UNM has made invention disclosures by faculty and applying for patents on those discoveries a priority as it seeks to build its technology transfer program. As a result, UNM has achieved far more issued patents in recent years, and far more disclosures by faculty seeking IP protection through the STC.
The university received 45 patents from the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office in 2014 – three times more than the 15 patents it received 10 years ago. Faculty disclosure also grew by 50 percent in the same period, and patent applications by 70 percent.
Apart from its ranking internationally, UNM placed 31st in number of patents received in 2014 compared to other universities in the U.S., Kuuttila said. That’s up from 40th in 2013.
Meanwhile, UNM was also designated this month as an Innovation and Economic Prosperity university by the Association of Public and Land Grant Universities, one of just 15 universities that received the designation this year. The classification provides national recognition for universities that are working with public and private sectors to support economic development through a variety of activities, such as innovation, entrepreneurship, technology transfer and development of talent, workforce and community, UNM President Bob Frank said in a prepared statement.
“UNM is thrilled to be recognized for this work with our public and private partners in New Mexico,” Frank said.