Explanation of Data --
This set of drill-down tables has been prepared from the Technology Assessment and
Forecast (TAF) database and displays utility patent activity (i.e., 'patents
for inventions'), by assignee name (ownership), for patents having ownership assigned to U.S.
colleges and universities. Counts of patents granted since 1969 are displayed in each
table. Annual counts are available for each of the most recent 21 years while counts
for earlier years are displayed in a single data column at the left side of each table.
For the purposes of this report and these tables, patent assignee (ownership)
information is determined by the first-named assignee at the time of patent grant,
as listed on the issuing patent.
Displayed patent counts in these tables are distributed by the year in which the
patents were filed, instead of by the year the grants were issued *. These data do not
represent the number application filings; only those filings that resulted in patent
grants are presented here.
These tables are divided into three types as follows:
- ALL U.S. UNIVERSITIES:
-
This table displays separate counts of utility patents (i.e., 'patents
for inventions') for each university assignee name that has
been associated with a U.S. college or university.
Please note that in this table, some universities may have more than
one university assignee name associated with them.
- TOP 100 R&D UNIVERSITIES:
-
This table displays separate counts of utility patents (i.e., 'patents
for inventions') for each of the top 100 academic institutions ranked
according to R&D expenditures in fiscal year 1999 **.
For each university entry, this table displays a consolidated count of patents
granted to all university assignee names that have been associated with
that university. In some cases, patents for as many as
five or more university assignee names may have been consolidated to
obtain the patent counts listed for a single university in this table.
- INDIVIDUAL LISTINGS FOR EACH TOP 100 R&D UNIVERSITY:
-
Each of these tables displays counts of utility patents (i.e., 'patents
for inventions') for a university ranked in the top 100 academic institutions
according to R&D expenditures in fiscal year 1999 **.
For the university, each of these tables displays patent counts for
each university assignee name that has been associated with it. A total count for
all associated assignees is also provided.
Footnotes:
* -
DATA FOR THOSE APPLICATIONS WHICH WERE FILED BUT NEVER ISSUED (ROUGHLY 25% OF TOTAL FILINGS) ARE
NOT INCLUDED IN THESE TABLES.
Since the average time period between filing for a patent and the issuing of the patent (i.e.,
a patent's "pendency") is about 24 months, the data in these tables for 1997 - December 2000 are
incomplete. This is because a significant number of the applications filed from 1997 - December 2000
which will ultimately become patents were still pending in December 2000. Since they had not yet
become patents as of December 2000, they are not included in these tables.
Data displaying patents as distributed by their year of application are of significant value since
the date an application was filed more accurately reflects when the technology was developed.
Additionally, fluctuations in patent data distributed by application date are much more likely to
reflect changes in technological activity, since such fluctuations would for the most part be immune
to changes in U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) processing such as occurred in years such as 1986
when the USPTO issued fewer patents than would normally have been expected due to a lack of funds to
print patents. Note that a patent's "pendency" can be quite variable from one patent to another thereby
affecting the date of patent grant. Such variation in pendency is determined by many factors, including
USPTO workload (which varies between technologies), budget and manpower levels, patent printing schedules,
etc.
As of 12/31/2000, utility patent application data were approximately 99% complete for patent applications
filed in 1997, 61% complete for 1998 filings and 19% complete for 1999 filings. They were essentially
complete for applications filed prior to 1997.
----------
** -
Academic institutions in the top 100, based on R&D expenditures in fiscal year 1999,
are derived from National Science Foundation report,
Academic Research and
Development Expenditures, Fiscal Year 1999 (early release tables, Table 32).
This NSF report, based on NSF's fiscal year 1999
Survey of Research and
Development Expenditures at Universities and Colleges, depicts science and
engineering expenditures for separately budgeted research and development at
academic institutions:
The term 'separately budgeted R&D expenditures' includes all funds expended
for activities specifically organized to produce research outcomes and
commissioned by an agency either external to the institution or separately
budgeted by an organizational unit within the institution. 'Expenditures'
are funds actually spent by an institution during its fiscal year.
The names of academic institutions in the NSF report are shown in a table, 'Total R&D
Expenditures at U.S. Colleges and Universities: Top 100 Institutions in R&D Expenditures
in Fiscal Year 1999', available elsewhere in this patent report. The NSF report provides a ranking
that includes specific campuses of statewide systems, such as the University of California
at San Diego (
U CA San Diego), which is ranked 6th in R&D expenditures in 1999.
However, it is not always possible to identify the patents associated with a specific
campus; frequently, the name of a larger institution or statewide system-not a specific
campus--appears as the assignee name on a U.S. patent. For example, a patent assigned
to the University of California may or may not be associated with the San Diego campus.
For some academic institutions in the NSF top 100, only patent counts for larger
institutions or statewide systems can be provided.
The table, 'Total R&D Expenditures at U.S. Colleges and Universities: Top 100 Institutions
in R&D Expenditures in Fiscal Year 1999' shows the assignee names on U.S. patents that most
closely correspond to the academic institutions in the NSF top 100, and for which patent
counts are provided in this section. No attempt is made to provide total patent counts for
specific campuses or research facilities, and where they do appear, those figures should not
be considered the total patent count for those campuses or research facilities.
Other Information --
Analyzing the Data
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