USF Ranked 35th In Patent Research

The University of South Florida ranks 35th nationwide in patent research, The Patent Board's 2008 Universities Patent Scorecard shows.

The University of California ranked first, the University of Central Florida eighth, the University of Florida 32nd and Florida State University 104th.

The Chicago-based institution tracks and analyzes the business value of patent assets. The scorecard includes ratings of industry impact, links to science and numbers of patents.

"Patents are one of the primary foundations of innovation," said Rod Casto, USF's associate vice president for technology development. "They provide protection for ideas so that further investments in research, development, and commercialization will occur."

A strong technology transfer program enables universities to recruit top-tier faculty, Casto said. That furthers local economic development and industry partnerships, he added.

The portfolio of technologies that have been developed at USF range from environmental sensors to gene therapy, said Valerie Landrio McDevitt, director of the Division of Patents and Licensing at USF.

Examples include:

•Voda LLC, a Florida company providing underwater mass spectrometers for environmental testing and monitoring the water quality of oceans and lakes.

•IRx Therapeutics, a privately held company started with USF technologies for treating patients with head and neck cancer.

•Rehab Ideas, a Florida company developing new technologies that will improve the lives and mobility of combat veterans who use wheelchairs.

USF has been issued 25 patents so far this year and landed 27 in 2007, the university reported.

UNIVERSITY PATENT RANKINGS

1. University

of California

2. Massachusetts Institute of Technology

3. California Institute of Technology

4. Stanford

University

5. Rice University

8. University of Central Florida

32. University

of Florida

35. University of South

Florida

104. Florida State University

Source: The Patent Board