Patent applications: the University of Milan second university in Italy

Between 2000 and 2020, the University of Milan filed 682 patent applications, ranking second among Italian universities for the number of applications submitted. This is what emerges from the first study ever conducted by the European Patent Office (EPO) on the role of universities in patenting and innovation. The first place went to the Politecnico di Milano, with 809 patent applications. The University of Rome "La Sapienza" ranked third with 502 applications, followed by the University of Bologna (472) and Politecnico di Torino (419).

According to the study, which was published on 22 October, in the period 2000-2020 there has been an increase in the number of patents filed by universities, also known as academic patents. In 2019, academic patents accounted for 10.2% of all patent applications submitted to the EPO. In Italy, academic patents represent 8.6% of the total number of patents filed by Italian applicants. With 79 universities, our country ranks fourth in Europe in terms of number of universities who have submitted at least one patent application in the period under scrutiny. 

The study also reveals that half of all academic patent applications received by the EPO are submitted by just 5% of the 1,200 European universities considered. These include, among others, the University of Grenoble Alpes, the Technical University of Munich, the University of Oxford, the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology Zurich, Politecnico di Milano, the University of Milan, the University of Rome "La Sapienza", the University of Bologna and Politecnico di Torino. These universities are more science-oriented and have dedicated knowledge-transfer offices. In contrast with the above, 62% of the universities considered account for only 8% of all academic patents. Even though these small universities file fewer patent applications, they still play an important role in their own national innovation ecosystems, as the study points out.

As of 1 October 2024, the patent portfolio of the University of Milan includes 355 patent families, plus a number of plant variety rights.

The portfolio is structured into four macro-areas: Nature, Health, Biotech and Industry.

In the first macro-area, "Nature", we can find inventions designed to improve land and resource management, and technologies of interest to agri-food businesses. This area also includes plant variety rights and inventions relating to veterinary medicine.

The "Health" macro-area comprises new drugs, diagnostic methods and medical equipment for the diagnosis, treatment and prevention of human diseases, whereas the "Biotech" macro-area includes processes and materials to be used in the field of biotechnology. Lastly, the "Industry" macro-area covers patented inventions with an impact on industrial processes and products, for example in telecommunications, mechanics and electronics.

Despite the fact that the "Health" macro-area accounts for 50% of all inventions, all areas are well represented, which attests to the fact that the University of Milan is truly a multidisciplinary institution.

The study also observes that, between 2015 and 2019, 152 start-ups located in Italy filed European patent applications on academic inventions, making Italy the fifth country in Europe for number of start-ups with patent applications on academic inventions. These figures show that "patents are a key instrument for transferring inventions from universities to the market", as the EPO remarks.

Thanks to its cooperation with venture capital funds, companies and consulting firms, the University of Milan is constantly committed to transforming innovative research findings into products or technologies capable of filling market gaps and generating economic value for businesses. This commitment has translated, for instance, into three acceleration programmes for highly innovative ideas, namely Seed4Innovation, See4Innovation Patent 2.0 and Student Innovation Labs, all run in partnership with Fondazione UNIMI.