IP Rank

IP Rank

University Intellectual Property Ranking 2021

UK University Intellectual Property Ranking

Intellectual Property (IP) commercialisation by UK universities (the so-called ‘technology transfer’) is a fundamental driving force behind entrepreneurship and job creation. But often the lack of guidance from universities correlated with badly written and/or not readily available University IP Policies and/or Regulations may lead to a lack of entrepreneurial drive, both from students and academic staff.

We have set out to investigate and rank how UK universities approach the ownership* and accessibility** of the IP developed by their students (current and immediate past alumni).

The investigation was based exclusively on published (online or downloadable) University IP Policies and/or Regulations on student IP ownership and exploitation.

The ranking was compiled based on 2 main criteria – (i) the students’ ease of retrieval of and access to their University’s IP Policy and/or Regulations and (ii) the transparency (or lack) of the IP Policies and/or Regulations in acknowledging IP creation and ownership by students as a distinct category of creators and exploiters of IP.

The data for the IP Policies and/or Regulations was collected during the month of December 2021. Therefore, if you are representing a university, please feel free to sign-up on our website menu https://www.ip-rank.co.uk/sign-up/ where you can upload your policies or regulations which we could not retrieve during our investigation or, alternatively, to indicate the location on your website where these can be found or freely downloaded.

The ranking has highlighted a wide range of variations in university legislation around student IP, which led to a grouping of the IP Policies and/or Regulations into 4 distinct Tiers. The top 2 Tiers are listing the universities which have published IP Policies, with Tier 1 universities providing a standalone Student IP Policy (thus separate from their ‘Staff IP Policy’). Tier 3 universities have incorporated student IP ownership in their Regulations, frequently in University Regulations or University Policies on student admissions. Tier 4 universities do not have published or readily accessible IP Policies and/or Regulations.

This is the Second Edition of the UK University IP Ranking and is intended to encourage dialogue with stakeholders such as universities, their student entrepreneurs, as well as IP professionals and funders (both research and regional councils and private inventors). Thus, looking forward, we aim to refine our framework for ranking the IP Policies of UK universities based on stakeholder feedback, as well as on universities updating or making their IP policies readily available.

Therefore, feel free to contact us here to provide your feedback.

Search by University

A UK wide review
154 Institutions
128 student IP policies
Ranked across 4 tiers
Download The Full Report
JUDGING CRITERIA AND RANKING

In the university lists below, the Russel Group universities https://russellgroup.ac.uk/about/our-universities/ are shown as (R) and the University of London Group universities https://london.ac.uk/ways-study/study-campus-london/member-institutions are shown as (UoL).

Tier 1 33 Universities

Criteria
A standalone Student IP Policy exists and is easily retrievable and downloadable following a simple Google search using natural language and keyword combinations such as 'UniName IP policy for students'.
England
Scotland
Wales
NI
Ranking
University of Edinburgh (R)
University of Bristol (R)
Durham University (R)
University of Glasgow (R)
Newcastle University (R)
University of Nottingham (R)
University College London (R) (UoL)
University of St Andrews
Robert Gordon University
Glasgow Caledonian University
Glasgow School of Art
University of South Wales
Swansea University
Cardiff Metropolitan University
University of Wales, Trinity Saint David
Arts University Bournemouth
University of Bradford
Canterbury Christ Church University
University of Central Lancashire
University of Cumbria
De Montfort University
University of Derby
University of Essex
Falmouth University
Harper Adams University
Kingston University
University of Lincoln
University of London, City (UoL)
Middlesex University
Nottingham Trent University
Sheffield Hallam University
University of Surrey
University of West London

Tier 2 76 Universities

Criteria
A university-wide IP policy exists and is retrievable and downloadable, sometimes with a medium degree of difficulty, following a Google search using natural language and keyword combinations such as ‘UniName IP policy’ or ‘UniName intellectual property policy’. Some of the retrieved policies are unusually short (only 2 to 4 pages). Although the policy is exceptionally clear as to students’ IP ownership rights, it also includes IP policies for staff, academic visitors and other persons engaged with the university. Nonetheless, the students’ IP provisions of the IP policy may be viewed as a stand-alone section.
England
Scotland
Wales
NI
Ranking
University of Exeter (R)
Imperial College London (R)
King's College London (R) (UoL)
University of Leeds (R)
London Business School (UoL)
University of Manchester (R)
University of London, Queen Mary (R) (UoL)
Queen's University Belfast (R)
University of Southampton (R)
University of York (R)
University of Aberdeen
University of Strathclyde
Heriot-Watt University
University of Dundee
University of Stirling
Edinburgh Napier University
Queen Margaret University
University of the West of Scotland
University of the Highlands and Islands
Abertay Univesity
Ulster University
The Open University
Bangor University
Aberystwyth University
University of Arts London
Aston University
University of Bath
Bath Spa University
University of Bedfordshire
Birmingham City University
Bishop Grosseteste University
University of Bolton
Bournemouth University
Brunel University London
Buckinghamshire New University
University of Chichester
University for the Creative Arts
University of East Anglia
Edge Hill University
University College of Estate Management
University of Greenwich
University of Hertfordshire
University of Huddersfield
Keele University
University of Kent
Lancaster University
Leeds Beckett University
University of London, Goldsmiths (UoL)
London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine (UoL)
Royal Central School of Speech and Drama (UoL)
University of Royal Holloway (UoL)
Royal Veterinary College (UoL)
University of London, St George's (UoL)
School of Oriental and African Studies
London Metropolitan University
London South Bank University
Loughborough University
Manchester Metropolitan University
University of Northampton
Northumbria University
Oxford Brookes University
Plymouth University
University of Portsmouth
University of Reading
Roehampton University
Royal Agricultural University
University of Salford
University of Suffolk
University of Sussex
Teesside University
University of West of England
University of Westminster
University of Winchester
University of Wolverhampton
Worcester
York St John University

Tier 3 23 Universities

Criteria
University legislation around student IP ownership exists and may be available online when employing a Google search. However, most of the legislation could only be retrieved by searching the universities’ websites directly. The legislation is mostly found buried in University Regulations, University Policies or within Student Admission Brochures. As such, these sources only relate in-part to IP provisions for students and are mostly restricted to student IP ownership.
England
Scotland
Wales
NI
Ranking
University of Cambridge (R)
Cardiff University (R)
University of Oxford (R)
University of Sheffield (R)
University of Warwick (R)
Royal Conservatoire of Scotland
AECC University College
Arden University
University College Birmingham
University of Brighton
University of Buckingham
University of Chester
Coventry University
Cranfield University
University of East London
University of Gloucestershire
University of Hull
Leeds Arts University
London Institute of Banking & Finance
Newman University
St Mary's University, Twickenham
Staffordshire University
Regent's University London

Tier 4 22 Universities

Criteria
Specific university legislation around student (or even staff) IP ownership does not appear to exist. Furthermore, even when some university hyperlinks indicate that IP-related policies may exist, these are only made available upon site login using a university ID. Nonetheless, some universities make available Copyright Policies or Research Ethics Policies or Regulations (which touch upon types of IP rights).
England
Scotland
Wales
NI
Ranking
University of Birmingham (R)
University of Liverpool (R)
Wrexham Glyndŵr University
Anglia Ruskin University
University of Law
Leeds Trinity University
University of Leicester
Liverpool Hope University
University of London
University of London, Birkbeck (UoL)
Courtauld Institute of Art (UoL)
Institute of Cancer Research (UoL)
London Business School (UoL)
Royal Academy of Music (UoL)
Norwich University of the Arts
Southampton Solent University
University of St Mark & St John
University of Sunderland
Writtle University College
Scotlands Rural College (SRUC)
BPP University
Liverpool John Moores University
The Distribution by Region
Tier 1
Tier 2
Tier 3
Tier 4
UK
England
Scotland
Wales
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Endorsements
Jeff Skinner - Executive Director, Institute of Innovation and Entrepreneurship, London Business School
This ranking brings complete transparency; every university needs be in the top tier and now knows how to get there.
Professor Alan Barrell - Cambridge Innovation Academy
A much needed study leading to pathways to follow for innovative and entrepreneurial young people to explore and understand the importance and value of Intellectual Property and how to protect it. This is a “first of kind” information channel and very well researched and presented. Deserving of attention and support.
Dr Will Lovegrove, Director of Innovation Strategy, University of Surrey
Helping students understand their intellectual property rights is very important to the University of Surrey. We believe that more students would be motivated to engage in innovation activities if a bigger proportion of the student body had a better understanding of their rights. It is wonderful to have our recent work to refresh our IP Policy in a plain-English style and produce a special “guide to student IP” recognised and rewarded in the form of a promotion to IP Rank’s Tier-1 status.
The 2020 IP Ranking is judged and administrated by:
12Ronnies helps students and universities align themselves on Intellectual Property, encouraging innovation and entrepreneurship.12ronnies.com
IP (patent, design, trade mark) protection: drafting, filing and prosecuting of IP applications, IP consultancy, IP strategy development, IP Audits, investor readiness and due diligence, management of IP portfolios, IP training & education, retained IP support for young companies. innovare-ip.co.uk
* UK students generally own any IP they create in a university environment (as undergraduate students, but often also as graduate students) by virtue of the fact that students are generally not defined as / assumed to be employees of the university.

** The UK legislation dealing with IP ownership comprises the UK Patents Act 1977, the Registered Designs Act 1949, the Trade Marks Act 1994, the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988 and the Intellectual Property Act 2014. The default IP ownership position is that the IP belongs to its creator unless this position is altered by contract (typically employment or consultancy contracts).

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Disclaimer

University IP Polices and/or Regulations of the UK’s 154 universities were collected and examined in December 2020. We have worked to the highest standard to ensure the data we collected was accurate and the ranking was conducted objectively. 

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