The University of South Carolina ranks among the top 100 universities in the world, based on the number of U.S. utility patents faculty members received in 2018. The 2018 listing places the University of South Carolina in the 72nd position worldwide, with a total of 33 patents.

UofSC shares this ranking with Michigan State University and Kyoto University, which also received 33 patents each in 2018. This places UofSC on par with, or ahead of some peer and peer-aspirant universities like Florida State University (ranked 69, with 34 patents) and the University of Connecticut (ranked 93 with 26 patents).

Our consistent showing on this list serves as evidence that the culture of invention is alive and well at our university, and that our faculty are some of the most innovative across the globe.

— Prakash Nagarkatti, Vice President for Research

This annual list, published by the National Academy of Inventors (NAI) and Intellectual Property Owners Association (IPO), has included UofSC every year since 2012, the first year for which such a listing was assembled (published in 2013). The rankings are compiled by calculating the number of utility patents granted by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office that list a university as the first assignee on the issued patent. The annual report aims to highlight the important role patents play in university research and innovation.

“I am so pleased to see the University of South Carolina again ranked among the top 100 patent-receiving universities in the world,” said Vice President for Research Prakash Nagarkatti. “Our consistent showing on this list serves as evidence that the culture of invention is alive and well at our university, and that our faculty are some of the most innovative across the globe.”

The University of South Carolina, South Carolina’s premier Carnegie tier-one institution of “very high research activity,” is the only South Carolina university to appear on the 2018 list (pdf).

 

26 June 2019