The National Academy of Inventors (NAI) announced the "Top 100 Worldwide Universities Granted Utility Patents in 2023" on February 22, 2024. The top three universities globally in terms of granted U.S. patents were the University of California system, the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), and the University of Texas system. National Taiwan University (NTU) obtained 55 granted patents, ranking 58th globally, surpassing top international universities such as Kyoto University in Japan, the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology, the National University of Singapore, and the University of Oxford in the UK, placing first in Taiwan. To emphasize technological innovation, NAI's patent ranking specifically focuses on invention patents and does not include design patents or utility model patents.
During the patent application process, NTU engages invention professors, intellectual property service providers, and technical experts to conduct technical evaluations, analyze the practical application and licensing possibilities of the technology, and provide subsidies for cases with innovative application potential. Over the past five years, NTU has averaged over 200 patent applications per year, both domestically and internationally. In addition to the 55 U.S. patents granted in 2023, NTU also received patents from various countries, including Taiwan, Japan, totaling approximately 150 patents. Among these, the information and electrical communication domain accounted for 60 patents, the functional materials and chemistry domain for 50 patents, and the biomedical, agricultural, and health domain for 40 patents. Over 16% of NTU's full-time faculty members have obtained invention patents, with the university currently holding over 2,400 valid patents, the majority of which are from Taiwan and the United States.
In the knowledge economy era, universities play a crucial role in knowledge and technology creation and have a responsibility to translate research outcomes into industrial applications, assisting in national industrial technological innovation and development, and stimulating economic growth and overall competitiveness in the technology industry. To accelerate technology diffusion and enhance technology transfer and matchmaking benefits, NTU promotes exposure and promotion through the NTU Technology Transaction Network (https://mip.ord.ntu.edu.tw/), integrating the university's technical capabilities, publicly disclosing research outcomes and patent technologies, and providing companies with rapid search access to research results based on technology classification. NTU also hosts theme-based industry exchange meetings through international industry-academic alliances, participates in exhibition events to increase technology exposure, promotes patent technology licensing and sales, and provides solutions for enterprise research and development and commercialization, thereby facilitating industry development.
NTU's technology transfer revenue has reached new highs in recent years, increasing from less than NT$100 million before 2020 to over NT$200 million annually. Over the past five years, an average of over 200 research outcomes have been transferred to enterprises annually, totaling approximately NT$870 million in technology transfer revenue, creating more business opportunities through technology transfer. NTU also fulfills its social responsibility. In response to China's emergency announcement of a ban on Taiwanese pineapple and wax apple exports in 2021, NTU granted the Ministry of Agriculture the "Pineapple and Wax Apple Long-distance Storage and Transportation Technology" for free, and through the Ministry of Agriculture's international market channels, selected high-quality export operators and provided transportation subsidies and other incentive measures to assist pineapple and wax apple exports in breaking through export difficulties and expanding distant markets.
Additionally, NTU encourages in-house invention teams to use research outcomes to develop new startup companies, promoting the industrialization of university talents and innovative technologies. To date, NTU has established 34 derivative startup companies, with a total fundraising amount of over NT$1.9 billion. NTU teachers actively assist in cooperative research and development through industry-academia cooperation projects. Currently, NTU undertakes over 600 industry-academia cooperation projects annually, with over one-third of teachers undertaking industry-academia projects. Over the past five years, the total amount of industry-academia cooperation projects has reached approximately NT$4.6 billion, with the amount of industry-academia cooperation doubling from less than NT$600 million annually before 2020 to an average of approximately NT$1.2 billion annually.
Through the NTU Innovation Incubation Center, NTU provides integrated resources and a conducive environment to cultivate technology and biotechnology/medical startup companies and small and medium-sized enterprises, allowing startups and SMEs to connect with the university's rich research and development resources. NTU also provides assistance to resident enterprises in operation management, technology research and development, capital planning, tax and regulatory compliance, and enterprise closure. The center has provided guidance over 5,000 times to date. The NTU Innovation Incubation Center has incubated over 240 SMEs to date, with 220 graduating and leaving the incubation center, and seven successfully listing on the stock exchange.
For more information on the NAI's ranking of top U.S. patent universities, please visit: https://academyofinventors.org/top-100-worldwide-universities/ https://academyofinventors.org/wp-content