Our History

USC is one of the world's leading private research universities. Last year USC received more than $430 million in sponsored research and approximately $20 million of that was from corporate research funding. USC, a member of the Association of American Universities (AAU), ranks #14 in receiving federal research funding. There are over 2,500 faculty members contributing innovation at USC through the quality and originality of their research and teaching.

Originally established as the USC Stevens Institute for Technology Commercialization (SITeC) in the USC Viterbi School of Engineering through the generous naming donation from Mark and Mary Stevens, the Institute evolved to become the USC Stevens Institute for Innovation (USC Stevens) out of a recognition for USC’s wealth of innovation across disciplines beyond science, engineering, and technology transfer and the opportunity to explore different approaches for seeing ideas make an impact.  USC Stevens is committed to continuing the excellence in technology transfer, while harnessing the creative thinking and innovative work behind USC's college, 17 professional schools, and research programs to build a multidisciplinary approach to innovation across sectors.  

USC Stevens is the current home to the former Office of Technology Licensing, and as such, offers support in licensing patents and copyrights. A part of this process is the protection of USC's intellectual property through the prosecution and maintenance of patents, the registration of copyrights, and other activities.