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Why We Do It

In today's knowledge-based economy, corporations are increasingly investing in intangible assets and new employees.  These investments often surpass expenditures on tangible assets such as buildings and equipment.  Innovation is critical to compete in the marketplace and as such, Intellectual Property has become a major corporate asset.  In turn, the product and the market dictate the success of the innovation. Specifically, businesses seek to increase the value of their patent portfolios to position themselves for successful commercial growth.  The journey from the laboratory to the marketplace requires a symbiotic partnership between you, the inventors and your Technology Transfer Office which seeks to incentivize the interest of companies or investors to commit resources to commercialize your technology.

The OTD receives 3-4 new invention disclosures each month, which we evaluate for commercialization potential.  We encourage faculty, postdoctoral fellows, students and staff to develop and disclose inventions in order to:

• Facilitate translational research which in turn affords our inventors a broader marketplace for their ideas, inventions and products
• Promote collaborative research, the development of intellectual capital and scientific entrepreneurship
• Enable inventions to enter the marketplace as products, which often requires prior protection of the intellectual property to incentivize/ garner the interest of an industry partner
• Act in accordance with the Bayh-Dole Act, which requires universities to seek protection for inventions developed with federal funding
• Help MCW recruit and retain knowledgeable and creative individuals who also possess strong independence and an entrepreneurial drive