UC-Corporate Links Produce Trove of Patents, Study Finds

Research from UC Berkeley found that corporate-sponsored inventions at the University of California system over 15 years generated more patents and licenses – two benchmarks of innovation – than did those solely backed by the federal government, the traditional and largest source of funds. It’s little surprise that industry-supported research produces more patents, said Laura Schoppe of Fuentek, a technology-transfer consulting company. Companies enter research deals with a sense of what the end result might be, whereas the government funds nuts-and-bolts work unattached to any particular use. “The problems that industry brings tend to have roots in a need,” Schoppe said. “There’s a reason they’re doing it.”