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BATON ROUGE – Despite the global pandemic, innovation at LSU continues to thrive. LSU is ranked among the top 100 universities granted U.S. patents in the world. Faculty inventors at LSU campuses across the state garnered 38 U.S. utility patents for their innovative work spanning the sciences and engineering disciplines in 2020. Twenty-six of the 38 patented ideas were developed at LSU’s flagship campus in Baton Rouge.

“The momentum for innovation is continuing to build at LSU. We have incredibly talented inventors – from faculty who have multiple patents to faculty who have received their very first patent. It’s an exciting time at LSU,” said Andrew Maas, director of the LSU Office of Innovation & Technology Commercialization.

Being issued a U.S. utility patent is no small feat and can take several years. For example, one patent issued in 2020 was initially submitted in 2013. As a result, Maas and his team have developed strategic programs to foster the spirit of innovation and to increase the success rate of patents and licensing at LSU.

For example, LSU is a National Science Foundation I-Corps Site, where LSU faculty, staff and students gain support to commercialize their technologies and ideas. The LSU Office of Innovation & Technology Commercialization helps inventors build a team to support their idea or technology that consists of the lead inventor, an entrepreneurial lead and a business mentor, who conduct critical market and commercialization evaluations through the LSU I-Corps program.

The LSU LIFT² Fund also provides support to help transfer LSU technologies and innovations to the market – providing a bridge over the gap between basic research and commercialization, which is support that can be difficult to come by through traditional means. The LSU Board of Supervisors created the LIFT² program to “Leverage Innovation for Technology Transfer” across all of LSU’s campuses. Innovations include creative and artistic works as well as devices, drugs, software and other more traditional inventions. The LSU LIFT² Fund awards grants to faculty on a competitive basis in amounts up to $50,000, to validate the market potential of their inventions.

“Fostering inventiveness and creative thinking is part of the ethos of Louisiana’s state university, and LSU is a marketplace for new ideas that can improve the community, the state and beyond. Being named among the top 100 universities in the world is a distinction we are honored to receive,” said LSU Vice President of Research & Economic Development Samuel J. Bentley.

LSU ranks 77 among the top 100 universities, according to the 2020 report released today by the National Academy of Inventors, or NAI, and the Intellectual Property Owners Association, or IPO. The report uses data obtained from the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office, or USPTO, and highlights the vital role patents play in university research and innovation. Previously, LSU ranked 94 in 2016 and 98 in 2017.

“The institutions included in this year’s report are leading innovation worldwide through their encouragement of academic discovery and invention,” said Paul R. Sanberg, president of the NAI. “We are proud to collaborate with the IPO for the ninth consecutive year to highlight universities that have made critical contributions to society.”

Published annually since 2013, the report ranks the top 100 universities named as first assignee on utility patents granted by the USPTO in the 2020 calendar year. The full report can be found here.

There are 55 member institutions of the NAI represented this year in the Top 100. They hold an aggregate total of 4,864 patents spanning a wide variety of fields, such as medicine, technology and engineering. The IPO Top 300 Patent Owners List, published annually since 1985, ranks organizations worldwide that received the most U.S. utility patents during the previous calendar year. This year’s report on 2020 patents was published on June 15. It lists the total number of patents for 2020’s Top 100 universities, including U.S. and international universities, to be 7,734.

For calendar year 2021, LSU has been granted seven U.S. patents to-date.

About LSU Office of Innovation & Technology Commercialization

LSU Office of Innovation & Technology Commercialization works with the LSU research community to facilitate the evaluation, protection and licensing of intellectual property created at LSU. This work also focuses on establishing, developing and growing technology-based startup companies and maximizes the university’s impact on the intellectual, economic and social development of Louisiana and beyond. The office provides assistance to LSU innovators and the community through the evaluation of their discoveries and ideas, mechanisms for protecting their innovations, marketing and industry negotiations for intellectual property, and licensing and other agreements.

National Academy of Inventors

The National Academy of Inventors is a member organization comprising U.S. and international universities, and governmental and non-profit research institutes, with over 4,000 individual inventor members and Fellows spanning more than 250 institutions worldwide. It was founded in 2010 to recognize and encourage inventors with patents issued from the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office, or USPTO,  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. The NAI works collaboratively with the USPTO and publishes the multidisciplinary journal, Technology and Innovation. www.academyofinventors.org.

 

Intellectual Property Owners Association

The Intellectual Property Owners Association, or IPO, is a trade association for owners of patents, trademarks, copyrights and trade secrets. IPO is the only association in the U.S. that serves and advocates for all intellectual property owners in all industries and all fields of technology.  

Additional Link:
Top 100 Worldwide Universities Granted U.S. Utility Patents: https://academyofinventors.org/top-100/