Technology Transfer

Technology Transfer

Technology transfer is the process of taking intellectual property (IP) including inventions, trade secrets, and copyrighted materials, from the research laboratory to the commercial marketplace.

As soon as you realize that your idea(s) might be valuable it is important to contact the Office of Technology Transfer as their staff are trained experts in intellectual property who can assist you in the technology transfer process. Steps in the technology transfer process typically include filing of an invention disclosure form, value assessment of the invention, legal protection of the intellectual property usually by copyright or patent, marketing, licensing or creation of a start-up in order to commercialize the IP.

The Office of Technology Transfer

Today most colleges and universities have an office that helps students, faculty, and staff take their intellectual property (IP) and realize commercialization of it. These offices provide a wide range of support services relevant to intellectual property issues including: help identify promising technologies worthy of patenting, provide the financial resources needed to patent and even market inventions, license university-owned IP to interested companies, and assist students and faculty in forming start-up companies based on patented inventions or copyrighted materials.

References

Florida State University Office of Research. Avail. URL: http://www.techtransfer.fsu.edu/
(Note: This site features several stories on the successful commercialization of university developed intellectual property including the anticancer drug taxol).

Techtransfer (U. Michigan). Avail. URL: http://www.techtransfer.umich.edu/index.html