The University of Barcelona is the first university in Spain to apply for European patents
The University of Barcelona (UB) is the first university in Spain with the most applications for European patents submitted during 2023. This has been determined by the report prepared every year by the European Patent Office (OEP) and which was published this week.
The OEP data places the UB in sixth position in terms of patent applications among companies and institutions in the Spanish State. The first positions in the ranking are occupied by the Superior Council of Scientific Research (CSIC) with 80 applications; the technology company Amadeus S.A.S. with 47; and Multiverse Computing S.L. with 24
The state universities that have achieved a better position in the OEP ranking are the University of Barcelona with 16 applications, 4 more than last year; the Polytechnic University of Catalonia with 14 applications; and the University of Valencia with 13.
“These results position, once again, the University of Barcelona as a leader of all the state’s public universities, not only in research, but also in the transfer of the knowledge generated in the international arena”, points out the vice-rector of ‘Entrepreneurship, Innovation and Transfer of the UB, Dra. Mercè Segarra And he adds: “This leadership is also the result of the work of the professionals of our knowledge transfer office, the Bosch i Gimpera Foundation, who give the necessary support to our research staff to value the knowledge generated so that it reaches the society, which will be the final user”.
Most of the patents requested by the University of Barcelona at the OEP correspond to the medical, pharmaceutical and biotechnology sectors. The UB faculties that have submitted the most patents are: the Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences, the Faculty of Pharmacy and Food Sciences, and the Faculty of Biology.
Currently, the University of Barcelona has 646 patents in force, a number that demonstrates the relevance of UB research. According to the Director of Innovation and Valorization of the Bosch i Gimpera Foundation (FBG), Lurdes Jordi, applying for patents “is sometimes one of the necessary steps so that the most disruptive results arising from the University’s research can become value propositions to solve the challenges we have as a society”.
In 1989, the University of Barcelona began to manage the patent protection of the results of the research carried out at the University. Since then, a cumulative figure has been reached that far exceeds the thousand patent applications submitted.
During this period of time, around 200 license agreements have been signed, which have allowed the transfer of a large number of technologies from the University of Barcelona to the industrial sector.
The technology license has also allowed the creation of dozens of derivative companies, or spin-offs, in which the UB participates, such as Qilimanjaro Quantum Tech, ColorSensing, Gate2Brain, Virmedex or AIGecko Technologies.