ASU ranks No. 9 worldwide for US patents in 2024
By Michelle Stermole, ASU News
March 11, 2025

Arizona State University remained in the top 10 universities worldwide for U.S. utility patents issued for the fourth time1, and rose one spot among U.S. universities on the National Academy of Inventors’ annual Top 100 Worldwide Universities list released today.


ASU secured 180 U.S. utility patents in calendar year 2024, ranking No. 9 among universities worldwide and No. 7 among U.S. universities. Other U.S. universities in the top 10 include the University of California system, MIT, University of Texas system, Purdue University and Stanford University. ASU surpassed Johns Hopkins University, Harvard, Caltech and the University of Michigan. In 2023, ASU secured 170 U.S. utility patents.

“Arizona State University has a longstanding commitment to advance research and discovery of public value that drives economic development locally and globally. Patented technologies developed at ASU are used every day in products for health care, communications, water management, national defense and more,” said Sally C. Morton, executive vice president of ASU’s Knowledge Enterprise. “Our proven track record of innovation, demonstrated in this ranking, drives trillion-dollar industries forward and creates new jobs and solutions to society’s most critical challenges.”

Skysong Innovations, ASU’s exclusive technology transfer and intellectual property management organization, helps translate research into impact by protecting intellectual property developed in ASU labs and negotiating licensing deals with commercial partners who advance the patented technologies and develop solutions for society.

“Utility patents are usually vital for building bridges between university research labs and the marketplace," said Kyle Siegal, executive director and chief patent counsel for Skysong Innovations. “The American patent system fuels the cycle of innovation by incentivizing inventors to disclose their inventions and by reducing risk for commercial partners who must invest resources developing those inventions into products. It leads to economic impact and new products that improve our daily lives, from cybersecurity tools to medical devices.

"People are sometimes surprised to learn the patent system is rooted in the United States Constitution itself, which empowers Congress to ‘promote the progress of science and useful arts, by securing for limited times to authors and inventors the exclusive right to their respective writings and discoveries.’”

A look at some of the patents issued in 2024 for ASU technologies

In 2024, ASU’s patented technologies spanned a variety of sectors, all of which aim to solve challenges of daily life.

An example indicative of ASU’s semiconductor focus and ability to collaborate with industry, ASU and Texas Instruments researchers developed a technology that aids chip designers by improving the way electronic devices match to one another electronically inside a high-tech processing chip.  

The patented technology was developed by Sule Ozev, professor in the School of Electrical, Computer and Energy Engineering, Muslum Emir Avci, former student, and Chethan Kumar, lead engineer at Texas Instruments.

Another patented technology provides a robotic ankle system for people with gait disorders, such as those recovering from a stroke or undergoing rehabilitation. The device reduces muscle effort by up to 38% in plantar flexor muscles. It functions by storing energy during the heel-on phase of walking and releasing it during the heel-up phase, thereby enhancing mobility.

The patented technology was developed by Seyed Mostafa Rezayat Sorkhabadi, former student, Wenlong Zhang, associate professor in the School of Manufacturing Systems and Networks, Marcus Schaller, former student, and Zhi Qiao, former student.

The top 100 list is a dynamic list and counts patents with universities listed as an owner in data provided by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office. NAI has published the Top 100 Worldwide Universities Granted U.S. Utility Patents list since 2013.

“The Top 100 Worldwide list showcases the vital role U.S. patents play in moving technologies from bench to marketplace at academic institutions around the globe,” said Paul R. Sanberg, president of the National Academy of Inventors. “By recognizing and celebrating this crucial step in the commercialization process, we aim to highlight how intellectual property can benefit inventors and their institutions, as well as encourage them to pursue commercializing technologies that can have beneficial societal and economic impacts.”

This story originally appeared on ASU News.

1 ASU was previously ranked No. 10 in 2018, No. 8 in 2021 and No. 9 in 2023.