A recent report by the European Patent Office [1] has revealed that 10% of all inventions for which a European patent application has been filed are generated by university research conducted in Europe (measured in terms of number of patent applications filed at the European Patent Office).The report is based on data collected between 2000 and 2020 featuring 1,200 European universities that have directly filed patent applications at the EPO, or that have university-affiliated researchers named as inventors on ‘indirect’ patent applications. Roughly two-thirds of the ‘university-generated’ patent applications fall into this ‘indirect’ category – i.e., the applications are filed by other entities such as small and medium-sized enterprises (including spin-out companies), not by the universities themselves.The UK seems to perform consistently well, and ranks third for the total number of universities filing European patent applications per country, and number of academic European patent applications filed per country overall (following Germany and France). Of the 131 UK universities that filed at least one European patent application between 2000-2020, the University of Oxford is the UK’s leading institution, filing the most European patent applications of any UK-based university (1,660 in total). The average number of European patent applications filed by a UK-based university is approximately 100, but the data is heavily skewed: four universities filed over 1,000 patent applications each, and only six others filed between 300-1000 patent applications each. Of course, there will be differences in size and resources between universities, but some institutions may be missing opportunities to exploit and monetize university-generated IP more widely.Statistics on applications made jointly by universities with a co-owner may shed further light on this skew in the UK data: in France, 79% of university-originating patent applications are filed with a co-owner, frequently a large public research organisation such as CNRS or INSERM. In contrast, only 10% of British universities file patent applications with a co-owner. Given the similarities between the sizes of the British and French populations and economies, one interpretation of this difference might suggest that UK university IP currently being left by the wayside could be unlocked by an enhanced role for UK public research organisations, such as the research councils or UKRI, in the commercialisation of research. Alternatively, smaller UK universities with limited resources could create shared technology transfer organisations to fulfil a similar role, as recommended in the UK Government’s recent independent review of university spin-outs. [2]It is encouraging to see that UK startup businesses are particularly well-represented in the study. For example, 281 UK startups filed a total of 853 European patent applications relating to university-generated inventions between 2015 and 2019 (more startups and more startup-filed applications than any other country in the study).In addition, four UK universities appear in the top eight academic institutions associated with startups that have filed patent applications to university-generated inventions: Oxford is joined by the University of Cambridge, Imperial College London, and University College London (perhaps unsurprisingly, the same four universities who filed more than 1000 European patent applications each across the study period). Indeed, the University of Cambridge is the second highest in this particular list (associated with 93 startups who filed European patent applications between 2000-2020) – just pipped to the post by ETH Zurich (101 startups).Despite this success, the report comments on the “European paradox” and the difficulties of transforming advantages in academic research into applied technological and economic performance, compared to other advanced economies such as the US. The report suggests one reason for this is the difference in startup landscape between the US and Europe. The study also references Mario Draghi’s report on the future of European competitiveness [3] and Enrico Letta’s report on the future of the Single Market [4], which point to a fragmented innovation ecosystem across Europe as being central to Europe’s struggle to translate innovation into commercialisation. That 10% of startups with European academic patents are headquartered in the US (as reported in the EPO’s findings) highlights this struggle, as does Imperial College’s launch of a new science and tech hub in San Francisco [5]. Further emphasising the apparent ease of startup building and scaling in the US compared to Europe is Entrepreneur First (EF)’s recent development – whilst first launched in Europe in 2011, EF now requires all its startups to move to California for part of the EF programme and to officially incorporate their companies in the US. Changes to the innovation ecosystem are needed to retain startups using university-generated innovations in Europe.To try and aid connections between potential investors and startups, the EPO Observatory on Patents and Technology has launched the Deep Tech Finder (DTF) [6], a digital platform designed to easily identify and analyse startups based within EPO member states that have filed European patent applications (and who may be seeking funding or business partners).At Mathys & Squire, we understand that startup and scaleup businesses are at the frontline of innovation. We have expertise in supporting such businesses identify, protect and commercialise IP in every industry and sector. If you would like to find out more about how we can help you with your IP needs, please get in contact with our dedicated ‘Scaleup Quarter’.[1] “The role of European universities in patenting and innovation” [2] Independent review of university spin-out companies – GOV.UK[3] EU competitiveness: Looking ahead[4] Much more than a market report by Enrico Letta[5] Imperial to strengthen Transatlantic tech cooperation with new hub[6] Explore deep tech in Europe – EPO