Patentdash.ai

NC Innovation

UNC System Patent Intelligence

UNC Chapel Hill · NC State · ECU · UNC Charlotte

NC InnovationCross-University IP Intelligence

A consolidated view of patent portfolios across the four UNC System universities served by NC Innovation, with auto-generated market reports for every technology.

4

Universities

2,847

Total Patents

12

Shared Research Themes

38

Multi-Univ Companies

PORTFOLIO SNAPSHOT

The NC Innovation Network

Portfolio composition for each university we track.

UNC Chapel Hill

1,124total

Granted812
Pending312
Filed (5y)487

NC State

956total

Granted701
Pending255
Filed (5y)401

ECU

287total

Granted198
Pending89
Filed (5y)124

UNC Charlotte

480total

Granted339
Pending141
Filed (5y)198
INNOVATION TRAJECTORY

Patent Issuance Velocity by University

Annual issued-patent counts per university. We chart issuances rather than filings because applications take 1-2 years to publish and grant — issuances are the most reliable recent signal.

  • Granted patents per year, back to 2017
  • Side-by-side comparison across all four universities
  • Avoids the 18-month publication delay built into filing data

Issuance Velocity by University

Issued patents per year
2017201820192020202120222023202420250306090120
  • UNC-CH
  • NC State
  • ECU
  • UNCC

Shared Research Themes

6 themes · 2+ orgs

Biotechnology & Therapeutics

4 orgs412 patents
UNC-CH: 198NC State: 124ECU: 48UNCC: 42

Materials Science

3 orgs287 patents
NC State: 156UNC-CH: 78UNCC: 53

Medical Devices

4 orgs234 patents
UNC-CH: 92NC State: 67ECU: 42UNCC: 33

Energy & Sustainability

3 orgs198 patents
NC State: 112UNCC: 51UNC-CH: 35

Computing & AI

3 orgs176 patents
NC State: 89UNCC: 54UNC-CH: 33

Agriculture & Food

2 orgs142 patents
NC State: 108ECU: 34
OVERLAPPING RESEARCH AREAS

Where the UNC System Converges

Patents are grouped by their primary CPC classification, then mapped to high-level technology themes. Bars show how each university contributes to themes shared by two or more institutions.

COMMERCIAL CITATIONS

Companies Citing NC University Patents

Companies pulled from forward-citation data. Bubble size shows total citation volume across the four UNC System universities.

Most Frequent Citing Companies

Top 10

Bubble size = total citations · Y-axis = number of NC universities cited (1-4) · Purple = multi-university.

03611Rank by citation volume →1234# UNC orgs cited

Top 10 by citation volume

Pfizer Inc. ·47Merck & Co. ·38BASF Corporation ·34Johnson & Johnson ·31Eli Lilly & Company ·283M Innovative Properties ·26GlaxoSmithKline ·24Bayer AG ·22Bristol-Myers Squibb ·19Dow Chemical ·18
MULTI-UNIVERSITY PARTNERS

Companies Citing Multiple NC Universities

These commercial entities have cited patents owned by two or more UNC System universities — a strong signal of cross-institutional licensing or co-development potential.

  • Sourced from USPTO forward citations
  • Universities, foundations, and individuals filtered out
  • Ranked by breadth of UNC System exposure

Companies Citing Multiple NC Universities

Live citation data

Johnson & Johnson

95% fit
31 citations·4 of 4 orgs
UNC-CHNC StateECUUNCC

Pfizer Inc.

90% fit
47 citations·3 of 4 orgs
UNC-CHNC StateECU

BASF Corporation

90% fit
34 citations·3 of 4 orgs
NC StateUNCCUNC-CH

3M Innovative Properties

90% fit
26 citations·3 of 4 orgs
NC StateUNCCUNC-CH

Merck & Co.

85% fit
38 citations·2 of 4 orgs
UNC-CHNC State
OUTSIDE COUNSEL

Which Law Firms Are NC Universities Using?

Outside-counsel relationships pulled from USPTO correspondence records. The stacked bars show how each firm's prosecution work breaks down across the four UNC System universities.

  • Real correspondence records from each application
  • Identifies firms shared across multiple universities
  • Useful for benchmarking vendor consolidation

Law Firms Used by NC Universities

Top 5 · all-time

Olive Law Group

orgs187
UNC-CH: 98NC State: 56UNCC: 33

Myers Bigel, P.A.

orgs154
NC State: 87UNC-CH: 41ECU: 26

Coats & Bennett, PLLC

orgs121
NC State: 72UNCC: 49

Jenkins, Wilson, Taylor & Hunt

orgs98
UNC-CH: 64NC State: 22ECU: 12

Kilpatrick Townsend & Stockton

orgs84
UNC-CH: 47UNCC: 25NC State: 12
JOINT FUNDING SIGNALS

Funding That Rewards the Full UNC System

Federal programs that explicitly favor multi-institution applications, paired with the shared research themes detected across the UNC System portfolios.

Joint Funding Opportunities

Multi-University

NIH

Biotechnology & Therapeutics

94% fit
Up to ·Rolling · next cutoff Sept 2026· relevant patents
UNC-CHNC StateECU

NSF

Materials Science

89% fit
Up to ·Annual · deadline Mar 2026· relevant patents
NC StateUNCCUNC-CH

DOE

Energy & Sustainability

86% fit
Up to ·Annual · deadline Jun 2026· relevant patents
NC StateUNCC

DARPA

Computing & AI

82% fit
Up to ·Rolling· relevant patents
NC StateUNCCUNC-CH
REAL MARKET REPORT EXCERPT

What Our Market Reports Actually Look Like

Two exhibits from a real PatentDash report generated for a UNC Charlotte patent (US 10,079,039 — Multi-Modal Collaborative Web-Based Video Annotation System). Every figure is tied to a published source listed in the report appendix.

Exhibit 3 · Market Sizing Cascade

From total market to realistic capture — staged filters

Each step strips out buyers we can't reach, address, or close in the relevant time horizon.

PATENT MARKET BRIEF
$8.4BVideo Collaboration & Annotation Software (Global)$3.1BVendors with timeline + multi-user comment UX$1.4BTop 60 vendors with infringement-readable products$95M5-yr realistic licensing royalty pool$8MFirst-wave settlements + paid licenses

What each stage covers

TAM· $8.4B

Video Collaboration & Annotation Software (Global)

SAM· $3.1B

Vendors with timeline + multi-user comment UX

Reachable· $1.4B

Top 60 vendors with infringement-readable products

SOM· $95M

5-yr realistic licensing royalty pool

Yr-1 Pipeline· $8M

First-wave settlements + paid licenses

What gets filtered out at each step

TAM SAM

EdTech, L&D, sports, medical, creator tools

SAM Reachable

Frame.io, Loom, Vidyard, Hudl, Coursera, Panopto…

Reachable SOM

Assumed 1-3% blended royalty, 35% win-rate

SOM Yr-1 Pipeline

3-5 lead negotiations, mostly upfront fees

Capture rates discounted using market norms for early-stage university technology. See Sources exhibit.US 10,079,039 B2

Exhibit 4 · Where the SAM Lives

5 buyer segments identified

Segments ranked by addressable revenue for this technology.

PATENT MARKET BRIEF

EdTech & Online Learning

Coursera, edX, Panopto, Echo360 — heaviest UX overlap.

35%

$1.1B

SAM Share

Corporate L&D / Async Video

Loom, Vidyard, Bigtincan — core comment-on-video flows.

29%

$0.9B

SAM Share

Sports & Coaching

Hudl, Veo, Catapult — segment-marking is central feature.

16%

$0.5B

SAM Share

Medical / Surgical Training

C-SATS, Theator — high willingness-to-pay, regulated buyers.

10%

$0.3B

SAM Share

Creator / Post-Production

Frame.io, Wipster — segment-comment UX broadly deployed.

10%

$0.3B

SAM Share

Source-Backed Analysis

Full reports include 8-12 exhibits — executive summary, market sizing, segments, competitive landscape, geo-evidence, licensing paths, next steps, and sources.

BEAUTIFUL MARKET REPORTS

Pipelines & Go-to-Market for Every Technology

For each promising patent across the UNC System, PatentDash auto-generates a consultant-grade market report — complete with adoption pipelines, named buyers, and a tailored go-to-market plan.

TAM / SAM / SOM

Adoption Pipeline

Go-to-Market Strategy

Named Buyer Lists

Pricing & Deal Models

Competitive Landscape

UNC Chapel HillA61K · A61P

Targeted CAR-T Cell Therapy

TAM

$18.4B

Commercialization Pipeline

Bench / Preclinical100%
IND Filing78%
Phase I Trials52%
Licensing Deal28%

Go-to-Market Strategy

  • License to Big Pharma oncology divisions (J&J, Bristol-Myers Squibb, Merck)
  • Spin-out with Series A from RTP-area life-science VCs
  • Co-development with FDA-fast-tracked rare-disease partners

Top Citing Buyers

Bristol-Myers SquibbJohnson & JohnsonPfizer Inc.
NC StateC08L · B32B

High-Performance Composite Polymers

TAM

$6.2B

Commercialization Pipeline

Lab Validation100%
Pilot Manufacturing84%
Industry Pilot Deploy61%
Commercial Licensing35%

Go-to-Market Strategy

  • Materials licensing to aerospace & EV battery manufacturers
  • Joint development with Tier-1 automotive suppliers
  • DOE / DOD applied-research grant pipeline

Top Citing Buyers

BASF Corporation3M Innovative PropertiesDow Chemical
UNC CharlotteG06N · H04L

Edge-AI Sensor Fusion Platform

TAM

$11.7B

Commercialization Pipeline

Working Prototype100%
Industry Partner Pilot72%
Production-Grade SDK44%
Acquisition / IPO Path22%

Go-to-Market Strategy

  • SaaS licensing model to industrial IoT integrators
  • Defense & smart-city pilot programs
  • Acquisition target for hyperscaler edge platforms

Top Citing Buyers

3M Innovative PropertiesJohnson & JohnsonBASF Corporation
Sample reports shown — generate real ones in PatentDash