Top patent-owning universities

The Patent Office has released its preliminary report on the top patent-holding universities. "Groundbreaking discoveries and patented inventions generated by innovative minds at academic institutions have paid enormous dividends," said the Under Secretary of Commerce for Intellectual Property. But, PatentHawk points out:

In his exuberant praise, Dudas failed to point out that these universities are what's been derisively termed "patent trolls": like spiders in their webs, patent holders that don't practice their own inventions, instead lying in wait to ensnare unsuspecting companies who infringe their patents. The University of California owns the notorious Eolas patent, which cost Microsoft over $1/2 billion in infringement damages; call it an educational endowment.

Rank
in 2005* Number of
Patents in 2005* U.S. University* Rank
in 2004* Number of
Patents in 2004*

1	390	University of California	(1)	(424)
2	136	Massachusetts Institute of Technology	(3)	(132)
3	101	California Institute of Technology	(2)	(135)
4**	90	Stanford University **	(6)	(75)
**	90	University of Texas **	(4)	(101)
5	77	University of Wisconsin	(8)	(64)
6**	71	John Hopkins University **	(5)	(94)
**	71	University of Michigan **	(7)	(67)
7	64	University of Florida	(13)	(41)
8	57	Columbia University	(10)	(52)
9**	43	Georgia Institute of Technology **	(19)	(37)
**	43	University of Pennsylvania **	(24)	(32)
10	41	Cornell University	(16)	(40)