The Office of Technology Transfer (OTT) facilitates the practical application of knowledge by protecting, marketing, and negotiating the sale of rights of commercially viable intellectual property to partners that can bring the property to market. In addition, OTT seeks to recover past expenses invested in a patent, with the expectation that the licensee will pay future patent expenses. OTT attains these goals through a flexible, responsive licensing process designed to meet the individual needs of commercial partners.
Steps to Follow:
- Identify an available technology
- Contact the Director of the Office of Technology Transfer (OTT) who will put you in touch with the inventor to request additional non-confidential information.
- Complete a Confidentiality Agreement (if needed). Under the confidentiality agreement, the Director of Technology Transfer can also provide confidential information such as patent applications and new data generated.
- Participate in a conference call or meeting with the inventor and the Director of Technology Transfer.
- Choose among several licensing options such as:
- sponsor additional research
- ask the inventor to consult on research conducted at your company
- pursue an option to license based on future events
- license the technology in its current form
OTT can structure a licensing agreement around an existing company or a new start-up company.
Terms will depend on a variety of factors such as:
- Time to market
- Investment required to get the product to market
- Potential size of the market
- Potential profitability
- The Technology Transfer Office will do everything possible to expedite the process so that the technology can be moved to a commercial setting in an efficient manner