UK leads in transition from university lab to market through startups
Inventions in fields such as vaccines or mRNA research, materials science, or advances in laser technology, all owe their existence to university research. A new report published by the European Patent Office (EPO) has found that patent applications for inventions originating in European universities have been on the rise over the past two decades, and now account for 10.2% of all patents filed at the EPO by European applicants.
The EPO’s free Deep Tech Finder tool has also been expanded to include almost 900 universities and over 1,500 spinouts, making it easier for investors to connect thousands of investment-ready startups and/or universities with European patent applications.
According to the study, the UK was third in Europe for the total number of academic patents, after Germany and France. British universities were behind over 13 000 European patent applications in the past two decades, equal to 12.3% of all academic patents in Europe.
The report, the first comprehensive analysis of its kind, is based on data for 1,200 European universities that have generated patent applications at the EPO between 2000-2020. In addition to patent applications that are filed directly by the universities themselves, the study also looks at indirect applications filed by other entities but naming university-affiliated researchers as inventors on the patent.
“Europe has a longstanding tradition of academic excellence, but we sometimes struggle to turn research into commercial success,” said EPO President, António Campinos. “This study sheds light on academic inventiveness across Europe to further inform policies and strategies. By leveraging patents through licensing, collaboration or spinouts, universities can amplify their impact driving both market and social value.”
Oxford, Cambridge and Imperial College London among the top for academic patents
A small number of universities in Europe (5% of the 1 200 universities in the study, including the University of Oxford and the University of Cambridge) account for half of all academic patent applications. They focus more on science-based fields and are supported by dedicated knowledge transfer offices. In contrast, 62% of universities contribute only 8%. But this latter group of small universities who file fewer patents play an important role in their national innovation ecosystems. Among UK universities, Oxford University holds the highest number of academic patents, with 1,660 academic patents between 2000 and 2020. It is followed by Cambridge University with 1,501 patents and Imperial College London with 1,433 patents.
UK leads in startups filing academic patents
Two-thirds of all patent applications originating at universities in the past two decades were not filed directly by the universities themselves, but by other entities, mostly companies, with small and medium-sized enterprises alone accounting for 30% of these filings. From 2015 to 2019, 281 UK-based startups filed European patent applications on academic inventions – the highest number in Europe and a measure of the strong technology transfer from university labs to the market.
The UK also has four institutions in the top 25 European universities by the number of startups filing academic patent applications for their inventions: Cambridge (2nd with 93 startups with academic patent applications, 2000–2020), Oxford (4th with 89 startups), Imperial College London (6th with 81 startups), and University College London (8th with 80 startups).
Finding universities and their spinouts
The study, developed through the EPO’s Observatory on Patents and Technology in collaboration with the Fraunhofer Institute for Systems and Innovation Research (Fraunhofer ISI), is the first comprehensive, long-term mapping of patents stemming from European universities and the challenges they face in bringing their inventions to market.
Connecting investors with investment-ready startups in Europe
The EPO has now upgraded its Deep Tech Finder tool to empower users to easily identify university patents and their spin-outs alongside other investment-ready startups with European patents or applications. This free online tool includes details of nearly 900 European universities as well as the business profiles and patent portfolios of over 1 500 spin-outs. The improved DTF streamlines connections between academia and the investment community like never before. This upgrade reaffirms the EPO's commitment to supporting deep tech innovation across Europe.
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