Study Finds Europe's Tech Transfer Offices Lag Peers
A survey of 809 offices shows large institutions hold most capacity while small offices struggle to convert research into patents.
Updated on Nov. 7, 2026 in Biotech
The European Patent Office, ASTP, and Fraunhofer ISI published a study of 809 university and public research technology transfer offices. It found that 90.5% of the offices are small or medium sized, with large offices employing six times as many staff.
Why it matters
European universities account for around 9% of European patents, and 40.7% of the patents they directly own lapse within ten years, compared with 26.3% for US universities. The findings point to a capacity gap that may limit how much university research reaches the market.
Large technology transfer offices have six times as many staff as smaller offices and receive nearly 16 times more invention disclosures. The study does not address how these capacity differences translate into patent quality or commercialization outcomes.
The players
European Patent Office
The European Patent Office is the executive arm of the European Patent Organisation, which grants European patents across member states.
Fraunhofer ISI
Fraunhofer ISI is a German research institute of the Fraunhofer Society that studies innovation systems and technology transfer.
ASTP
ASTP is a European association of technology transfer professionals that supports university and research organisation knowledge exchange.
Oxford University
Oxford University is a public research university in the United Kingdom and leads UK public research institutions in European patent applications.
The details
Researchers analysed survey data and patent evidence from 809 technology transfer offices, providing the first comprehensive European benchmark of the sector. The study also found that European patent applications involving universities, public research organisations or research hospitals reached almost 8,000 in 2025.
Timeline
2006: European university-involved patent applications were around 3,200.
2025: European university-involved patent applications reached almost 8,000.
November 7, 2026: The study on technology transfer office capacity was published.
The Tech Race
The Deep Tech Finder tracks 723 UK research spin-offs filing patent applications, placing the study's findings within a wider push to convert European university research into commercial technology. The lapse-rate gap with US universities frames the competitive stakes for European technology transfer.
Researchers and university staff in Europe may see changes in how their inventions are supported and patented as offices adjust capacity. The study does not indicate near-term changes to patent access for consumers.
The takeaway
Patent value depends heavily on the support behind it, and the study suggests smaller technology transfer offices may need more capacity to keep promising European research from lapsing. Readers following university innovation can watch how these gaps are addressed in future reporting.
Further reading
For more on how research institutions commercialize discoveries, see Biotech.
Source note: This article includes information reported by Laboratory News.
