USC among top 100 worldwide for patents received by faculty

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The University of South Carolina ranked among the top 100 universities worldwide for number of U.S. utility patents received by faculty members in 2019, marking the eighth consecutive year the university made the top 100.

USC ranked 90th in the world in 2019 with faculty named as the lead on 31 patents, according to a news release from the university.

The annual list (.pdf) has been published by the National Academy of Inventors and the Intellectual Property Owners Association since 2013. Rankings are based on the number of utility patents granted by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office that list a university as the first assignee.

“Our faculty’s ability to create new technologies and innovate year after year is one of our great strengths as a university,” said Bill Kirkland, executive director of USC’s Office for Innovation, Partnership and Economic Engagement. “Their continued contributions to scientific discovery ultimately improve the quality of life not just our state, but all over the world.”

USC is the only S.C. institution to make the list.

The Regents of the University of California, the governing board of the University of California, topped the rankings with 631 patents.