Sustainable Innovation Through University–Industry Collaboration: Exploring the Quality Determinants of AI Patents

Artificial intelligence (AI) is a core technology driving the Fourth Industrial Revolution and serves as a foundation for sustainable technological competitiveness. Despite the rapid growth of AI-related patent filings in Korea, the overall quality of these patents remains relatively low. This study examines the determinants of patent quality in university–industry (UI) collaboration and investigates how firms’ R&D capability moderates this relationship. Using 90,782 AI patents filed with the Korean Intellectual Property Office (KIPO) between 2013 and 2023, the Patent Quality Index (PQI) was constructed by integrating forward citations, patent-family size, and the number of claims through min–max normalization. Regression analyses reveal that UI collaboration per se has no significant average effect on PQI, but firms with stronger R&D capability achieve higher patent quality through collaboration. In addition, greater collaboration depth and accumulated prior experience significantly enhance PQI, while the negative effect of technological cognitive distance is mitigated by absorptive capacity. These findings demonstrate that sustainable innovation outcomes depend not merely on the quantity of collaboration but on the synergy between qualitative collaboration structures and internal R&D capabilities. By linking open innovation theory with absorptive capacity, this study provides empirical evidence for fostering sustainable innovation ecosystems in which universities and firms co-create technological value.