Without an invention disclosure, we cannot protect the intellectual property. Disclosing your innovation to our office is the first step in helping us determine protection, a commercial strategy and the path needed for further development of your idea.

Invention disclosures should be submitted to the Office of Technology Transfer and the Office of Research and Sponsored Programs.

Yes, the more thorough that you are in the form, the better we can evaluate the invention and the discovery. If you need assistance with the form, the Institute for Innovation, Commercialization and Economic Development and The REDIzone can support you with completing the form.

You should include anyone that you believe contributed to the creation of the invention. These are active participants that physically or mentally contributed to the discovery. We want you to know that a creator may not be a patent inventor.

It is good to understand that inventorship is different from academic authorship. A good analogy can be seen in the building of a house – the architects who designed the home would be the inventors as opposed to the builders who followed the instructions of the architects.

Under the requirements of the Bayh-Dole Act and NEOMED policy, University employees must disclose all intellectual property created by them. Once you disclose, we will work with you and your agency to inform them that you made a discovery.

Researchers, faculty, and graduate students should disclose all intellectual property that may be eligible for protection as soon as possible in order to obtain patents. This should be before submission of a manuscript or before presenting at a conference, including poster sessions.

With a patent, you can prevent others from making, using or selling your invention for a certain period unless they have your permission. Patent protection is vitally important to finding a commercial partner willing to invest in getting your discovery from the lab to the market.

Copyright protects original works of authorship, while a patent protects inventions or discoveries. Ideas and discoveries are not protected by the copyright law, although the way in which they are expressed may be.

It is best to disclose your invention first. We understand how important it is to share your results with the scientific community. However, the date that you first make your research public can affect patentability. Call us first.

Often times, your manuscript can be used as the basis for a provisional patent which can secured within one day if needed.

It depends on the type of public presentation, the date of the presentation, and the amount of data. Public disclosures could limit the ability to obtain a patent if the disclosure would teach someone how to perform your invention.

We encourage our faculty and staff to describe their discovery in an invention disclosure to our office first, so we can review it before any public presentation. But if you already publicly disclosed, we may have other options. When you disclose to our office, be sure to describe the public presentation and provide the date in the disclosure.

The type of public presentation is also important. Certain abstract submissions, conference presentations and poster content may not be defined as enabling and may not affect patentability. This is also why it’s important to disclose as soon as possible.

Excellent! The REDIzone has a number of resources to support the creation of a start-up company. They can assist in applying for government SBIR grant funding, provide mentoring and advisory support, connect you with the Northeast Ohio start-up ecosystem, assist with fundraising, and may have space in their business incubator to provide the office and laboratory space you need to launch your company.