Office of Technology Development

Do not hesitate to contact the OTD to discuss an invention. If you are unsure whether your idea is ready to disclose, we encourage you to contact us for a consultation. Even a small change to a buffer that decreases an incubation time by a few seconds could be very valuable to industry.

We are here to support MCW faculty, staff, and students and we will never discourage publication of data or interfere with faculty development. We will work with you to protect your potential intellectual property. You do not have to start your own company to reap the rewards of your intellectual property. The OTD licenses a significant amount of IP to existing companies.

The OTD receives 3-4 new invention disclosures each month, which are evaluated for commercialization potential. We encourage faculty, fellows, students and staff to develop and disclose any potential intellectual property to the OTD.

The first step is to consult with the OTD or submit an invention disclosure form. This disclosure form can be used for patentable and copyrightable inventions, techniques or know-how, or biological materials. Note that a slightly different form is used for software. Submission of a completed disclosure form triggers the evaluation process.

Upon receiving a completed disclosure form, a licensing manager will contact the inventor (usually within two business days) to set up a disclosure meeting. Sometimes the meeting schedule will need to be expedited because a public disclosure or publication of the discovery is imminent. The OTD needs to be informed about all impending deadlines.

Invention Disclosure Form (DOC)

Software/Informatics Tool Development Disclosure Form (DOC)