Tempe, AZ
Patent resources for Tempe inventors.
Tempe is the IP engine of Arizona — home to Arizona State University, the largest source of US patent filings in the state. ASU's tech transfer office, Skysong innovation center, and the SmartCity Test Bed make Tempe the natural starting point for university-derived patents in Arizona.
Patent activity
Tempe's patent landscape is dominated by ASU and ASU-affiliated startups. ASU's tech transfer arm — Skysong Innovations — manages an active patent portfolio across biotech, semiconductors, photovoltaics, water purification, and AI/machine learning, with hundreds of issued US patents and several thousand active licenses. Many of Tempe's most active independent patent holders are former ASU researchers who spun out companies — particularly in solar (ASU's Photovoltaic Reliability Lab), biomedical sensors (the Biodesign Institute), and AI hardware. The city also hosts Iridium Communications (satellite IP) and a growing cluster of clean-tech startups around the Tempe Marketplace innovation district.
If you are an ASU student, faculty member, or postdoc, you almost certainly cannot file a patent independently on work done with university resources — Skysong owns the IP and handles filing. If you are an independent Tempe inventor, you can use the Phoenix PTRC, file pro se via the USPTO Patent Center, or work with one of the IP attorneys clustered near ASU's Tempe campus and the Mill Avenue corridor.
Notable patent holders in Tempe
The full guide
Patent filing, attorneys, and education across the Valley.
Tempe sits in the Phoenix metro — and most patent infrastructure (federal USPTO offices, large IP firms, the closest Patent and Trademark Resource Center) is shared across the Valley. Our full Phoenix guide covers the USPTO Pro Bono program, ASU Skysong, local patent attorneys, and the common mistakes Valley inventors make.