KU News Release

KU ranked ninth in the world for driving new technology through ‘innovation pipeline’

LAWRENCE — In the fierce competition among research institutions to discover and develop innovations that can benefit the public, the University of Kansas ranks ninth in the world in the rate of new patents issued.

KU has a ratio of receiving 0.62 patents for every patent filed, according a report completed by a national nonprofit think tank. As of fiscal year 2006, KU holds 45 U.S. patents and has 53 pending. Fourteen companies have been created as a result of research done at KU.

The report, “Mind to Market: a Global Analysis of University Biotechnology Transfer and Commercialization,” is issued by the Milken Institute, a nonprofit, nonpartisan economic think tank in Santa Monica, Calif. On the list, KU finds itself among universities that sit in close proximity to major technological and commercial hubs.

“These are institutions that when they submit an application (for patent) they expect it to be granted,” said Jim Roberts, vice provost for research at KU. “These are schools that are submitting solid applications. That includes KU.”

Roberts said he would like to see more companies in proximity to KU.

“It allows the students to gain more experience with technology transfer and entrepreneurship and opens opportunities for them to stay after completing degrees,” Roberts said.

“The thing that drives this is basic research, that’s something we can't lose sight of,” he said.

KU innovations on the marketplace include a digital video processing technology that monitors and captures television commercials worldwide; an online guide to community building used worldwide; and a technology that helps stabilize pharmaceutical drugs and make them easier to deliver into the human body.

“We do it primarily because it’s a public service, it’s the right thing to do. It’s a part of the university commitment to the general public,” said Roberts.

Technology transfer also benefits students outside of scientific research.

“We have law students working in our office learning about intellectual property law and licensing,” said Jim Baxendale, director of KU’s Office of Technology Transfer and Intellectual Property. “We provide technologies to students in the School of Business for submission to business plan competitions.”

What’s more, Roberts said, transferring technology and intellectual property to the public aids faculty recruitment. When interviewing with the university, potential faculty members are interested in learning about the prospect of commercializing their intellectual property, he said.

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The University of Kansas is a major comprehensive research and teaching university. University Relations is the central public relations office for KU's Lawrence campus.