OTC facilitates the transfer and commercialization of information, life and physical science inventions developed at the University of Maryland and a few other University System of Maryland campuses.
Faculty, staff and students are the primary source of the university's inventions and intellectual property. According to the University of Maryland Patent Policy, the university has the right to all inventions that university personnel conceived or first reduced to practice as a part of or as a result of a university administered program of research; activities within the scope of the inventor's employment by the university; or activities involving the use of university time, facilities and/or materials.
Benefits of Working with OTC
There are many benefits to the university's faculty, staff and students for participating in the technology transfer and commercialization process, including intellectual property protection; increased research funding from successfully partnering with business, government and industry; and supplemental income from royalty and licensing revenues generated from licensed technologies.
When to Contact OTC
If you find yourself in any of the following situations, please contact OTC so we can work together throughout the technology transfer and commercialization process:
If you have developed an invention
If you are named as an inventor on a patent application filed by a company or a branch of the U.S. government
If you are asked to provide unpublished information or research results to a company
If you are going to publish a paper or give a presentation about a research project that may involve a new invention
If a company expresses a desire to license technology from your laboratory
If you already have or would like to start a company based on technology developed at the university
Please take the time to review OTC's standard invention disclosure form and keep it in mind when you are conducting research at the university. If you do invent a new or improved technology, complete the form and submit it to OTC.
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OTC Resources
The Office of Technology Commercialization (OTC), an office within the Division of Research, facilitates the transfer of the cutting-edge technologies developed at the University of Maryland to business and industry.
This is accomplished by developing and managing a high quality portfolio of diverse technologies; ensuring intellectual property rights through patents or copyrights; and negotiating and executing licensing agreements to provide benefits to the university and the economy and improve the overall quality of life.
In its 20-year history, OTC has assisted in the creation of more than 50 high-tech start-up companies, which were formed based on technologies developed at the University of Maryland. At least 26 of the 32 start-up companies founded in the last five years are located within the state of Maryland. Since its inception in 1986, OTC has received more than 1,660 invention disclosures, secured more than 300 U.S. patents and licensed more than 785 technologies, generating more than $25.4 million in technology transfer income. In addition, more than 50 high-tech start-up companies have been formed based on technologies developed at the university.
Invention of the Year Program
Every year, OTC honors one invention in each of the technology areas (information, life and physical sciences) as the "Invention of the Year" award winner. The inventions are nominated in each category and voted on by an independent panel of judges. Awards and a cash prize are presented to the inventors during an on-campus ceremony in April where members of the local business and government communities joining Maryland's faculty, staff, students and administrators to celebrate the university's research efforts. Information on this year’s Invention of the Year Awards is available here.
Inventors Seminars
OTC periodically sponsors Inventors Seminars to provide the university's faculty, staff and students an opportunity to listen to creative thoughts from successful inventors on the technology-innovation process. These seminars focus on both the technical and legal aspects of inventorship.
Industry, Government and Venture Capitalists Presentations
To highlight the wide range of technologies developed at the university, OTC hosts technology showcases and symposia for industry and government representatives, venture capitalists and angel investors. These activities, along with OTC's 19 years of technology transfer, have resulted in close university-industry partnerships with many companies in Maryland, throughout the United States and around the world.
On-Campus Presentations
At the request of university departments, administrative units and faculty members, members from OTC's staff will give an overview presentation about all aspects of the technology transfer process, with specific emphasis on protecting intellectual property.
Campus-wide Partnerships
OTC has also developed close ties with university offices such as the Maryland Technology Enterprise Institute, the Technology Advancement Program, the Small Business Development Center and the Dingman Center for Entrepreneurship to demonstrate to the local community, industry and government the broad range of technology transfer services, R&D funding and partnering opportunities and entrepreneurial capabilities the University of Maryland has available.
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Intellectual Property and Inventor Responsibility Regarding Public Disclosure of Information
Intellectual property is any writing or discovery that is a new and useful process, machine, composition of matter, life form, article of manufacture, software, trademark, trade secret, copyrighted work or tangible research property. It includes such things as new or improved devices, circuits, chemical compounds, drugs, genetically engineered biological organisms, antibodies, clones, cell lines, data sets, software, Web-based tools, musical processes, photographs or unique and innovative uses of existing inventions.
For an invention or intellectual property to be patentable, it must be a process, machine, article of manufacture, composition of matter or related improvement. A process is a mode of treatment of certain materials to produce a given result. It is an act or series of acts performed on the subject to be transformed and reduced to a different state or thing.
A machine is a distinctive means for accomplishing a certain result. It differs from a process in that it is limited to a particular apparatus.
A manufacture is an article or product. In this case, patentability depends on the functional relationship of structural elements.
Composition of matter refers to chemical and metallurgical compositions and may include certain combinations of ingredients, as well as new compounds and recombinant organisms.
It is also possible to patent an improvement to any item patented in one of the above categories, but it must be more than a change in design or proportions and must, like inventions in the other categories, meet the criteria below.
A patentable invention must be useful, have a specific use. A patentable invention must also be novel, be new and original; and non-obvious. Even though it is novel, it must not be obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the related technology at the time the invention was made. Inventions that are not patentable include: laws of nature, algorithms, theories, plans of action, mere ideas or results.
In general, patentable inventions are creations that are better, cheaper, more efficient, use fewer steps, save time, are less harmful, shine brighter or act selectively or synergistically, etc. As a rule of thumb, if data or results are being used in support of a proposal seeking research money or are set forth in a draft of a paper to be peer reviewed, then such data or results likely are the result of novel research and an Intellectual Property Disclosure form should be submitted to the Office of Technology Commercialization (OTC).
Disclosure of confidential material to any outside party constitutes a public disclosure and may compromise certain patent rights. Articles in newspapers, newsletters, bulletins, textbooks, journals, reports, theses or dissertations [including those which are posted on the University Digital Repository for the University of Maryland (DRUM) Web site at https://drum.umd.edu/dspace/index.jsp] may all qualify as publications. Oral presentations may constitute publication in some countries, as would distribution of a paper or abstract at a public meeting.
Inventors should seek advice and carefully consider the timing and ramifications of publication. This is especially true if the predominant market for the invention is not in the United States. When in doubt, contact OTC (http://www.otc.umd.edu) for guidance or file an Intellectual Property Disclosure form with OTC before publishing.
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