This article is a part of Poland Unpacked. Weekly intelligence for decision-makers
The advantage of universities over private companies in securing patents for inventions, innovations, and technologies in Poland has increased again. This is according to preliminary data from the Polish Patent Office (Urząd Patentowy RP), with the full dataset expected to be published by the end of this month.
Granted patents…
In patents granted over the past year for inventions and utility model protection rights, the dominant position of science is clearly visible. The scientific sector is represented primarily by universities.
Patents granted to universities in 2025 accounted for more than half of all patents obtained by domestic entities – as much as 55.6 percent. At the same time, the already relatively modest inventive activity of research institutes and units of the Polish Academy of Sciences (PAN) declined further. Research institutes accounted for 7.6 percent of granted patents.
…and new applications
In 2025, the entire scientific sector was also responsible for 48 percent of all new patent applications filed by domestic entities. Its share in filings increased for the second consecutive year, widening the gap over patent applications submitted by companies. A year earlier, in 2024, science accounted for 42.4 percent of all new patent applications filed by domestic entities.
“The situation in which universities account for half or even a majority of domestic patent applications is a specific feature of the Polish innovation system. At the same time, the position of research institutes, as well as institutes of the Polish Academy of Sciences, in the overall number of filings is low. It fluctuates around a few percent, which may be surprising given their research profile. However, this may stem from the specifics of how they operate,” comments Dr. hab. Ewa Skrzydło-Tefelska, President of the Polish Patent Office (UPRP).
Business steps back. Fewer inventions
It is clear that corporate activity in patenting innovation is declining. The business sector accounted for 37.5 percent of applications related to innovations, inventions, and technologies. This is slightly more than a year earlier, when the figure stood at 36.7 percent, but significantly less than the share of the scientific sector.
“The economic sector in Poland shows a downward trend in domestic filings. Polish businesses, especially in high-tech industries, are increasingly and deliberately choosing to forgo patenting in favor of trade secrets,” says Dr. hab. Ewa Skrzydło-Tefelska.
In her view, it is safer and more cost-effective for companies to keep technology strictly within the organization.
Companies simply do not want to share with the market. The low level of patented innovation in Polish firms also stems from the fact that many international businesses file patents abroad, even when improvements or new technologies are developed in their Polish R&D departments.
It should also be taken into account that an increasing number of patent applications from Polish entities are being filed abroad, directly at the EU level. In this way, they protect their inventions on a much broader scale. In 2025, Poland submitted the highest number of patent applications in this manner in its region of Europe. The European Patent Office granted Polish inventors protection for more innovations than in the previous year.
King of the Lab
Important shifts among universities with the highest number of patents in Polish academia
Significant changes have taken place among the universities leading in patent acquisition within the academic sector.
The “king of inventions” from the academic laboratory remains unchanged. The leader among all universities continues to be the Lublin University of Technology, which secured 128 new patents in 2025. However, the Lublin-based institution recorded a slight decline compared with the previous year, when it held 131 patents.
In second place once again is the Rzeszów University of Technology, which obtained 108 patents, up from 69 a year earlier. Third on the podium is the Warsaw University of Technology, with 81 patents versus 51 in the previous year.
Other universities on the list also recorded increases in granted patents. The Silesian University of Technology raised its result to 70 from 54, the Łódź University of Technology to 64 from 51, and the West Pomeranian University of Technology to 60 from 50 in the previous year.
Interactive chart Universities have entered the race with technical universities
President Ewa Skrzydło-Tefelska notes that it is not only technical universities that are active in patenting. General universities are gradually beginning to catch up with technical institutions. Several universities have even multiplied their achievements over the past year compared with the previous one.
“A granted patent is proof that the achievements of general-profile universities can successfully have an applied, practical dimension,” emphasizes the head of the Polish Patent Office.
The Wrocław University of Environmental and Life Sciences obtained 46 patents (compared with 28 a year earlier). The Poznań University of Life Sciences patented 40 innovations and recorded one of the largest year-on-year increases in the number of granted patents – up from just 9 in the previous year.
Expert's perspective
A decade of evolution behind strong patent performance
The university has succeeded in building a stable group of researchers engaged in intellectual property protection and the commercialization of research results. This represents around 10–12 percent of nearly 800 researchers employed at UPP. “I believe this is a very good result. After all, academic freedom and institutional autonomy mean that researchers are not required to commercialize their work,” the university notes.
Between 2020 and 2025, UPP signed a total of 115 commercialization agreements worth PLN 1 million (approximately EUR 230,000). This includes the sale of patents, patent applications, and know-how that cannot be protected by patents but is safeguarded as trade secrets. Over the same period, the university’s revenue from contract research commissioned by companies and other entities reached PLN 75 million (approximately EUR 17.2 million).
Most of UPP’s patents relate to food technologies and furniture manufacturing – key industries in the Wielkopolska region. Over the past five years, the university has commercialized 12 percent of the patents obtained during that period. Although there are no detailed studies on the commercialization of university-owned patents, based on the sector’s overall knowledge, this 12 percent figure is considered a very strong result.
In total, over the past decade, UPP’s revenue from knowledge transfer has exceeded PLN 2 million (approximately EUR 460,000).
UPP commercialization revenue structure in 2025:
12% – sale of patents
40% – sale of patent applications awaiting approval
48% – know-how (mainly software)
The Medical University of Lublin obtained 30 patents in 2025 (compared with 17 a year earlier). The University of Agriculture in Kraków significantly increased its number of granted patents, from 8 to 29. The University of Łódź secured 25 patents, up from 23 in 2024.
A clear decline, however, was recorded in applications from the University of Silesia in Katowice, which fell to 26 from 40 in the previous year.
Interactive chart A winding road from the lab to business
Universities are eager to protect their research and inventions, but they are significantly less effective when it comes to bringing them into circulation and into the real economy. There are still no precise data on how many patents in Poland are actually implemented and used in practice.
For years, debates have been taking place across the country on how to encourage researchers to transfer scientific results more effectively into the economy. It is a highly labor-intensive and slow process. Recently, a special team operating under the Ministry of Science presented recommendations summarizing a year of work.
Experts responsible for training researchers in this area admit that the arguments they can use to convince those reluctant to engage in commercialization are simply too weak.
Expert's perspective
Senior researchers are less interested in learning how to commercialize – and more in controlling outcomes
We run them in both Polish and English, due to the large number of international students.
We also offer mentoring programs, which are very popular. PhD students, students, and researchers can enroll in modules led by experts in business model development, fundraising, sales competencies, marketing, and building a startup’s public profile. Each participant has a set number of hours available – they can focus on one module or distribute consultations across several areas. In addition, we organize specialized training on commercialization for researchers. Topics include: ownership of research results, how to monetize them, how the commercialization process works, the sale of commercial services, budgeting, intellectual property protection, forms of cooperation with business, and drafting consortium agreements.
In the past, we ran regular spring and autumn training cycles. Today, we mainly deliver them on demand – tailored for a specific faculty or research team. In the previous semester, at the request of the Dean of the Faculty of Biotechnology, we conducted a full training cycle for staff in biochemistry, biophysics, and biotechnology.
We see the effects of these initiatives, although it is difficult to attribute them solely to training – it is rather the result of a broader set of coordinated actions at the university. The greatest engagement and interest come from doctoral candidates and early-career researchers. They are eager to take advantage of mentoring and accelerator programs with a view to their future startups. Since PhD candidates are not university employees, they most often establish companies outside the university, and the results of their work belong to them.
Senior researchers tend to leave these courses with knowledge not about how to commercialize their results, but rather how to maintain full control over them.
Key Takeaways
- University dominance in patenting inventions. In 2025, Polish universities accounted for 55.6 percent of all patents granted to domestic entities and were responsible for 48 percent of new patent applications. Their share of the patent market continues to grow, significantly outpacing business. Academia is clearly ahead of the corporate sector in patenting innovation, although this is rarely reflected in the commercialization outcomes of research outputs at individual universities.
- Leaders in academic patenting. The highest number of patents was recorded by the Lublin University of Technology (128), although it posted a slight decline. It was followed on the podium by the Rzeszów University of Technology (108) and the Warsaw University of Technology (81). Technical universities continue to dominate, but general universities are catching up – record growth was seen, among others, at the Poznań University of Life Sciences (40 patents, up from 9 in 2024) and the Wrocław University of Environmental and Life Sciences (46), as well as at the Medical University of Lublin and the University of Agriculture in Kraków.
- The commercialization challenge. Universities are eager to protect research results through patents, but they are significantly less effective at implementing them in the economy. One example that shows the value of cooperation with business is the Poznań University of Life Sciences, which has been building a culture of commercialization for a decade. Even there, however, only 10–12 percent of researchers are willing to engage in such cooperation. Senior-generation scientists remain largely uninterested in selling or commercializing their knowledge.