1. What is Technology Transfer? -- An Overview
2. Protecting Your Technology Through Inventorship and Patentability
3. Jumpstarting the Technology Transfer Process
4. Resources and Links for Inventors

"Technology Transfer" is broadly defined as the process of providing private sector access to technological advances developed by scientists and researchers. The transfer is made possible through patenting of university-made inventions and assertion of copyright for university-developed software, multimedia teaching tools and educational materials. Universities accomplish the transfer of intellectual property through the licensing process.

Intellectual properties are inventions that are protected under a patent, trademark, copyright, or other law that typically serve some commercial value.

The explosion of intellectual property licensure for commercialization is widely attributed to the Bayh-Dole Act of 1980, which allows universities to work with companies to license their federally-funded research.  To read more about the Bayh-Dole Act, click here. As a faculty member at USC, you have access to world-class research facilities that enable you to develop discoveries of great significance that can benefit the local, regional, and national business communities. With assistance from the IP Office, there are numerous rewards to commercial licensure of your invention or discovery:

• Practical Application: Your invention provides groundbreaking research for industries that are able to implement and apply your discovery on a large scale to benefit the most significant number of people.  Application of your research also allows for wide public recognition of your efforts.
   
• Financial Returns: You receive a share of monetary compensation through license agreements and revenue distributions in return for the transfer of your technology to industry.  These returns may also help provide you with the financial means to conduct additional research in your own lab by providing your laboratory and department with funding.
   
• Economic Benefits: Licensing of University inventions has resulted in dozens of U.S. patents and a number of start-up companies.  These companies help create revenues in the local, regional, and national economic spheres.

USC technology transfer thrives on the combined efforts of world-class researchers and dedicated staff and students committed to discovering new technologies.  If your research or discovery has matured and you decide commercialization could be a viable option, what is your next move?

Decide if your discovery constitutes a marketable invention.  An invention can be defined as "an act of creativity that results in a device, process, or technique novel enough to produce a significant change in the application of technology." Does your invention constitute a market or technical need? Could it lead to increased efficiency in commercial processes or improve upon a current product? If you have discovered something "new," the IP office will work with you to ensure that your technology is properly transferred and implemented, or provide assistance to determine the scope and marketability of your discovery.

Work with the IP Office to protect your intellectual property. Once your discovery is published in a paper, presentation, or even disclosed at a lecture, it becomes difficult to protect the original idea. The IP office strives to help you by providing the legal materials and counsel necessary to guarantee that intellectual property is protected.  Once IP protection is obtained, the IP Office will market your technology to existing companies.

The most common forms of IP protection are patents, trademarks, and copyrights.

• A patent is a set of exclusive rights granted by the government that give an inventor rights in his or her discovery.  The IP Office files U.S. and international patent applications. We work with patent attorneys and the inventor to write the patent application, file it in the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office, and follow it through the patenting process.
   
• A trademark is a word, symbol, name, or other device that is used to identify a product and distinguish it from similar or competing products.  The University may consider registering a trademark to further increase value and protection of a product during commercialization. 
   
• A copyright is a legal grant by the government that covers original works of authorship and must be fixed in a tangible medium of expression (e.g., printed book, sound recording, videotape, or script). Any author can have copyright protection even without registration because copyrights exist from the moment of material creation. Literary works, photographs, software, distance learning material, music, and lyrics are protected by copyrights.

The technology transfer process begins at the university when the research investigator identifies an invention which he or she believes may have potential for commercial development.  The IP Office will guide you in completing a successful technology transfer through five major steps.  These steps indicate how Intellectual Properties are processed at the University of South Carolina:

1. Submitting a Disclosure: The first formal step in the process occurs when an inventor or creator submits a "disclosure" form describing the invention to the IP Office.  The disclosure briefly describes the new invention, what it does, and what existing problem it is designed to solve.  A USC Invention Disclosure form can be downloaded as an editable PDF from the Agreements and Forms page.
    
2. Evaluating a Disclosure and Filing a Patent Application: Once an invention disclosure form has been submitted, the IP Office will investigate the invention.  A patentability search may be conducted in past literature or patent archives.  Is this invention similar to current patents? If patented, would the invention be likely to attract the commercial investment needed for development through a license? Are there funds available within the institution or from a prospective licensee to pay for the patenting costs?  These questions and more are evaluated to determine if a patent application is viable.  If so, the IP Office will work with a patent attorney and the inventor to submit a patent application.
    
3. Marketing the Patent: USC seeks early licensing for a potential patent, and typically files patents that are likely to be commercially feasible.  The IP Office will work with inventors to market discoveries by making company presentations, publishing short summaries of the discovery for distribution, and using other aggressive marketing tactics to ensure that the invention is commercially developed by a competent licensee.

   1. Another option for development of the invention is for the researcher to start up a company to commercialize their invention.  For more information, please see our Resources for Entrepreneurs.

4. Negotiating the License: The IP Office employs full-time lawyers, licensing experts, and consultants to ensure inventor rights, responsibilities, and rewards are protected during the licensing process.  We will work to negotiate your license and ensure that the company is works diligently to develop your invention.
    
5. Distributing the Revenues: The IP Office will cooperate with the inventor and the licensee (the company to which the technology is being licensed) to ensure that revenues are accurately and fairly distributed between the licensee, the inventor, and the University.
    

More information about the process of technology transfer can be found in "A Tutorial on Technology Transfer in U.S. Colleges and Universities" on pages 13-28.  The tutorial elaborates on the licensure of patented intellectual property and trademarks and discusses inventor and licensee rights and responsibilities in detail.

South Carolina Research Authority (SCRA): The SCRA and Affiliated Research and Development Institutes is a statewide research and development conglomerate that specializes in providing physical lab space for researchers, marketing new technologies to investors, and in the commercialization of those technologies.  SCRA receives more than $75 million in revenue each year and has three branches located near the leading research institutions in South Carolina (USC), Clemson University, and Medical University of South Carolina (MUSC).

SCRA works with local R&D and advanced technology institutes as well as in both the public and federal government sectors.  SCRA recently created SC Launch!, a program designed to assist researchers in bringing new technologies to market.

USC Technology Incubator: The USC Columbia Technology Incubator is a nationally-recognized program that provides physical space, resources, and information for USC faculty, staff, and students for commercializing their ideas to produce successful, financially viable and freestanding businesses.  The 43,000 square-foot Incubator building provides an excellent resource for inventors who are looking for business and technical consulting, lab access, administrative assistance, conference and mail rooms, and internet/phone connections. As of February 2006, 37 companies have graduated from the program.