1. Communicating with CCTEC

If you believe you have made an important discovery or have come up with an inventive idea, it is a good idea to contact CCTEC to explore what should be done with your discovery or idea before you disclose it to the public. Our licensing officer will be glad to work with you to advise you whether you should file an invention disclosure with CCTEC. Alternatively, you can simple file a disclosure with this office first and our licensing officer will then contact you to discuss your discovery or idea further. Early communication can ensure a better evaluation of the market potential and social and commercial value of your discovery or idea, and whether we need to file a patent application prior to any public disclosure to protect your intellectual property rights.

2. Making a Disclosure

The invention disclosure form is a simple three-page document that describes your invention or discovery. The invention disclosure form should be submitted with a written description of your idea or your discovery. Additional manuscripts, explanatory drawings, and supporting data are very helpful. To ensure maximal protection rights for your invention, it is important to file an invention disclosure form before any public disclosure such as a publication, or a public presentation. After you disclose your invention to CCTEC, a licensing officer will be assigned to manage the invention and will be in contact with you within two months.

3. Assess Invention

Once you've disclosed your innovation to CCTEC, the next step is to work with a licensing officer to explore its potential. You and your licensing officer will work together to review the following key issues:

• What problem does the invention solve?
• What is the potential market for (commercial value of) the invention?
• Does the invention offer a cheaper and/or better way of doing something?
• Are there competing technologies available? How much better is the new invention than its competitors?
• Do you intend to continue working in this area?
• Would you be willing and able to conduct experiments in order to develop this invention?
• Does it have the potential to create a new market?
• Does it serve an unmet market need?
• How much investment, in both time and money, will be required to bring the invention to market?
• What businesses may be good industry partners to develop your invention into valuable products or services for the public?
• Is there potential to create a new business enterprise based on the invention that can foster regional economic development?

4. Patenting Invention

To ensure eligibility for U.S. patent rights covering your invention, a patent application must be filed within one year of public disclosure. To maintain patent rights in the rest of the world, a patent application must be filed prior to public disclosure anywhere in the world. Therefore, if you are interested in developing your new inventions into useful products or services for the public, please contact CCTEC immediately if and when you are about to publicly disclose new ideas or research results. The followings are some examples of public disclosure:

1. Sharing a pre-publication manuscript with others without a confidentiality agreement
2. Publication of a meeting abstract
3. Presentation in a conference or giving a seminar
4. Publication of a article (either online or hard print)
5. Sharing ideas or data with a person who is not officially a collaborator of your research

Not all invention disclosures submitted to CCTEC are appropriate for patent protection. CCTEC will work with you to determine the potential and patentability of any disclosed inventions. If the decision is made to go ahead with a patent application, CCTEC will manage the process.

5. Marketing Innovation

If you and your licensing officer agree there is market potential for your invention, CCTEC will begin to market your invention to license to industry. To reach industry partners, CCTEC generates non-confidential marketing materials and a list of target companies. Your industry contacts can be of great value in finding the right licensee for the invention. It's estimated that 80% of university licensing deals begin with the researcher's relationships in industry.

6. Negotiating with Potential Licensees

Once a potential licensee has expressed interest in licensing your invention, the licensee may sign a Confidentiality Disclosure Agreement with CCTEC so you and your licensing officer can discuss your invention in detail with the potential licensee. If the discussion reaches the negotiation stage, your licensing officer will negotiate terms and sign a license with the licensing company.

7. License or Start up Company

CCTEC licenses Cornell intellectual property to companies ranging from the Fortune 500, to medium and small business. If CCTEC believes the use of your invention in the starting of a new business enterprise will best advance the university's missions and strategic goals (currently, regional economic development is an important strategic goal), CCTEC will endeavor to do so. If you are interested in participating in such an endeavor, do not hesitate to let the licensing officer responsible for your invention know.

8. Post-Agreement Services

After a license is executed, CCTEC continues to maintain a relationship with the licensee. CCTEC tracks the diligence of the licensee in its development of your invention. Occasionally, because of industry environment changes the licensee will require adjustments. CCTEC will be responsible for making reasonable adjustments to the original license. Finally, if the license of your invention generates any net income (net income is gross income minus any out-of-pocket costs incurred by CCTEC in the licensing of your invention), CCTEC distributes it according to university policy to the appropriate university stakeholders.

For net income from the licensing of an invention:

• the inventor (if multiple inventors, as a group) will receive one-third
• the university will retain one-third to help with the cost of the university technology transfer program
• the remaining one-third is split between the principal inventor's academic "unit" (60%) and the university research administration (40%).