• Faculty and staff should not wait until after they have pursued any publication of their research to discuss their intellectual property with the Office of Economic Development. Publication may affect the university’s ability to secure patent protection for intellectual property, and new university patent procedures offer the office staff ways to help on short notice, if necessary.
• Publishing without first filing patents often guarantees that a discovery will be ignored by industry. This is because commercialization is such a costly and complex endeavor that even the “perfect” business partner will hesitate to be the first to make or market a product that is already available in the public domain.
• Most researchers underestimate the value of their inventiveness. They tend to dismiss their own inventions as trivial or obvious, thereby overlooking great potential. Fortunately, the realities of patents, copyrights, trade secrets, and other forms of intellectual property protection allow distinctions to be made between the old and the new. The staff of the Office of Economic Development will help determine the potential of the given intellectual property. The staff can also help identify ways in which an invention or discovery can be turned into a profitable product and service.

Additional information for inventors is available in the university’s Intellectual Property Policy.