The UAB, first in number of university patent applications in Spain
Last year, the UAB presented 18 priority patent applications, making it the first university in Spain and second centre in Catalonia in number of patents, according to the European Patent Office's Annual Report 2015.
Of these, five patents belong to the field of neuroscience, three to innovations in gene therapy and four to the field of chemical engineering, electronics and telecommunications. The remaining six patents belong mainly to the biomedical sector.
The UAB Valorisation and Patents Office (OVP) is the one in charge of managing all of the university's industrial property, which goes from applying for a patent to promotion and fundraising activities, and also covers research transfer through licensing. In 2015, the OVP applied for a total of 64 patents, including the 18 priority patents presented to the European Patent Office, international extensions and derivatives.
Catalonia, at the forefront of patent applications in Spain
According to the EPO, Catalonia is the autonomous community in Spain with the highest number of patent applications (515). The company with the greatest number of patents presented is Esteve laboratories, with 23 applications, followed by the pharmaceutical company Almirall (17), Galenicum Health (12) and Lesvi laboratories (9).
Academic institutions are also at the top of the list, as can be seen by the 18 patent applications belonging to the UAB which makes it the second centre in Catalonia and sixth in all of Spain. The University of Barcelona (UB) and the Universitat Politècnica de Catalunya (UPC) follow the UAB, with 10 applications each.
With regard to Spain, the Spanish National Research Council (CSIC) is the first centre on the list, with 47 patents, followed by the travel agency Amadeus (34) and Telefònica (31). These are then followed by the aforementioned Catalan companies.