Title: Academic patenting by universities and public research organizations in 39 EPC

member countries

题目：39 个欧洲专利公约成员国的大学和公共研究机构的学术专利申请情况

Speaker:Rainer Frietsch, Fraunhofer Institute for Systems and Innovation Research ISI

Time:2025年9月18日 下午15点

Host: Rongping Mu

Place:管理科研楼第四教室

Abstract: Academic patents are one of the most important means of technology transfer fromscience to industry. Academic patents are defined as patent applications that are eitherfiled by a university/public research organization (PRO) or are (co)invented by at leastone inventor that is affiliated with a university or PRO, but is filed by another entity.We have developed a method to identify academic patents as a whole and not only theso far mostly only used university-filed patents. This method allows us to identify theuniversity-invented (or PRO-invented) patents in addition. Using this method, we findthat in EPC member countries between 11%-17% of all patent applications to theEuropean Patent Office are essentially academic patents filed or invented by universitiesor PROs. Results show that the number of academic patents at the EPO have beengrowing since the year 2010. The shares for PROs are rather stable over time, while theshares by universities in total patent applications at the EPO have been growing. About4,400 academic patents are filed at the EPO by PROs in the EPC member states, whilethe number filed by universities account for about 7,500 per year.

Bio: Rainer Frietsch currently serves as Head of the Department Innovation and Knowledge Economy at the Fraunhofer Institute for Systems and Innovation Research (ISI) in Karlsruhe, Germany. He has been with the institute since October 2000, and from January 2008 to June 2019, he also held the positions of Deputy Head of the Competence Center "Policy – Industry – Innovation" and Coordinator of the Business Unit Innovation Indicators. He holds a Ph.D. in Economics from the Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT), pursued studies in social science at the University of Mannheim, and received professional business training in wholesale and import/export trade. His research focuses on patent statistics, bibliometrics, economic and social indicators, the performance of research systems and organizations, knowledge and technology transfer, and science-industry collaboration. Additionally, he actively engages in academic and policy-related exchanges, such as serving as a visiting professor at the Institute of Science and Technology for Development （Chinese Academy of Sciences).