Frequently Asked Questions
Send all questions about identifying, protecting and commercializing Intellectual Property to Laura Collins, director of the Office of IP Development and Commercialization.
Yes. Report any and all inventions that you feel may solve a problem and/or have commercial applications, even if you aren’t 100% sure they are patentable. Working with the office, the prior art landscape and the development of the technology will be assessed to identify the appropriate next steps.
Complete N.C. A&T’s Invention Disclosure Form and submit it to the Office of IP Development and Commercialization.
A patent is a business tool. In particular, it is a contract between the patent holder and a government whereby the inventor(s) provides a detailed disclosure of the “invention” that meets statutory requirements (including novelty, non-obviousness and utility) and the government grants the patent holder a right for ~20 years to exclude others from making, using, offering for sale, selling, or importing the claimed invention into the country.
Patents are defensive rights, not offensive rights--- they do NOT guarantee you have the right to practice the claimed invention.
The process at N.C. A&T starts with an Invention Disclosure. After the office’s assessment, a provisional patent application may be filed. One year later, a utility patent application can be filed, and if the prosecution effort over the following years is successful, a U.S. patent is issued.
No; it will not prohibit publication. In consultation with the office, you may decide to file a patent application before your technology is made public (e.g. poster presentation, published manuscript, funded proposal, press release, blog post, etc), but provisional patent applications can be prepared in a short time, if circumstances require an immediate filing. Note that your own disclosure made 366 days ago can act as a bar to patenting the exact same technology today in the U.S. and any disclosure can be a bar to getting a foreign patent, so be sure to consult with the office in a timely manner!
A patent (or pending patent application) makes it easier for a potential commercial partner to evaluate the strength of a technology and move it from the lab into the marketplace.
Should the university receive any income from commercializing your invention, our patent policy requires that 15% gross or 50% net income be shared with the inventor(s).
Yes. Under the Bayh-Dole Act, the federal government permits universities to own inventions that arise from federally-funded research. The Act requires universities to report each disclosed invention and the protection/commercialization of same.
Should the university receive any income from commercializing your invention, our patent policy requires that 15% gross or 50% net income be shared with the inventor(s).
Inventorship is a legal determination- an inventor contributes to the conception of a claimed invention. Thus, inventorship may change from the time a Disclosure is submitted to filing and prosecution of patent claims. Someone who only furnishes money to build or practice an invention is not an inventor; someone who simply follows instructions of another person (a ‘pair of hands’) may not be an inventor if they do not contribute to conception of the invention; such a person may still be considered a co-author or contributor under typical scholarship guidelines.
