On June 15, 2021, the National Academy of inventors (NAI) and the intellectual property owners association (IPO) released the top 100 world wide university granted us utility patents 2020.

It is reported that the list, based on the data of invention patent applications from the USPTO, has been published annually since 2013, aiming to highlight the important role of patents in university research and innovation.

In 2020, top 100 universities will obtain 7734 invention patents, involving many industries such as medicine, engineering and technology. The University of California ranked first (597), followed by Massachusetts Institute of Technology (383), and Stanford University ranked third (229).

Among the non US universities, Tsinghua University of China (155) ranked first (9th in total), followed by King Fahd University of petroleum and minerals KFUPM (127 in total, ranking 14) and KAIST (86 in total, ranking 26).