Page 7 - 2020 Startup Guide

1. Research
Observations and experiments during research activities often lead to the development of intellectual property such as patentable inventions or copyrightable works. Often multiple researchers—including students, post-docs and research staff—contribution to the creation of an innovation and are considered to be joint inventors or authors.
2. Disclosure
A written notice of the development of intellectual property—either an invention disclosure or a works disclosure—is submitted to OTD and starts the technology transfer process. The disclosure is a confidential document that fully describes all aspects of the innovation, including critical solutions it provides and competitive advantages it possesses.
3. Protection
OTD determines an appropriate method of legal protection for the innovation and evaluates the likelihood of success of securing such protection. If a patent application is filed, it may take several years
and tens of thousands of dollars to obtain an issued patent. Other common forms of intellectual property protection include copyrights and trademarks. Unique biological materials and software can often
be successfully licensed without formal intellectual property protection.
4. Assessment
OTD assesses the commercial potential of the innovation based generally on the need in the marketplace, competition, and potential costs and revenues to a commercializing entity. This assessment guides the licensing strategy.
If the researchers are contemplating starting a company based
on the innovation, it is helpful to inform OTD of these plans during the assessment stage. OTD will take this into consideration when evaluating the innovation and developing a strategy for intellectual property protection, marketing, and licensing.
5. Marketing
OTD is committed to broadly marketing all innovations to appropriate companies that could be interested commercialization. With the researchers’ input, OTD creates a marketing overview of the innovation, identifies potential licensees that have the expertise, resources, and business networks to bring the innovation to market, and contacts those companies to generate interest and gauge commercial potential.
7