The 2014 national patent rankings were unveiled this afternoon. Zhejiang University grabbed the coveted No. 1 spot with 1,576 patents, accounting for 18% of the total number of patents of the top 10 institutions of higher education. Meanwhile, it ranked 2nd in the rankings of practical and new-type inventions.
Li Cheng, Vice President of the Intellectual Property Publishing House, said that patents acted as a crucial yardstick against which to measure the contributions of universities in research and development and the technology transfer rate. In recent years, both the number of patent applications and that of patent authorizations have hit an all-time high among universities, but this “ivory tower” has been plagued by the relatively low technology transfer rate. Thus, it is of vital significance to promote the integrated collaborative innovation between industry and academia in a tangible manner and improve the autonomous innovativeness and technological development level of universities.