Scientific Discovery and Assessing Technology Potential
For two decades, CU has fostered an entrepreneurial environment to bring technology to market. We can support your efforts too.
CU Innovations, the technology transfer arm of the University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus, facilitates entrepreneurship and commercializes university research. They assess inventions for commercial value, collaborate with inventors, and emphasize IP protection. Learn more about their impact and resources here.
CU Innovations drives entrepreneurship by facilitating the transfer of university research through startups, licensing, and publishing. They support diverse research programs across the institution and share best practices. Innovations are transferred in various ways, including workshops, courses, collaborations, and free distribution. Some innovations even evolve into core laboratory services, applying novel techniques to external challenges. CU Innovations works closely with industry-facing units, partnering with investigators to provide consulting and tools to turn innovations into real-world impacts.
Different intellectual property tools are used for translating innovations, with patents and licensing being closely linked to technology transfer. If a patent is deemed suitable, CU Innovations allocates a budget for early-stage patent protection. Market analysis is conducted to assess technology value, considering factors like market size and risks. Within four months of receiving a complete disclosure, CU Innovations decides whether to invest in a patent.
Licensing is another method to commercialize technology. The inventor collaborates with CU Innovations from patent protection to transferring the invention to the licensee. CU Innovations uses its industry relationships to match inventions with potential commercial partners.
CU Innovations also promotes the use of Creative Commons and open-source licensing to advance research and knowledge. The office advises on copyrighting works and software while ensuring clear rights for users and collaborators.
The University of Colorado is dedicated to fostering entrepreneurship to bring technology to market. CU Innovations facilitates the creation of startup companies based on CU Anschutz technology.
The startup process occurs after an initial technology assessment, this includes evaluating the invention’s commercial and technical value. Additional factors included in the technology assessments are the inventor’s interest, identification of a business champion, deployment options in place for the technology, potential for investment, and conflict of interest (COI) management.
When deciding to start a company, CU Innovations develops an IP protection strategy and forms an advisory group of experts that help determine the company’s feasibility and the team’s involvement level. Once the startup team is formed, CU Innovations negotiates with the lead businessperson to secure IP rights for the new company.
To learn more about starting a company and navigating the technology commercialization process click here.
CU Innovations facilitates licensing transactions by staying updated on practices through conferences, trainings, and networks. The licensing process is detailed and depends on various factors related to the inventor, licensing office, and commercial partner. Our team expertly balances the interests of investigators and industry partners to turn innovations into products or services.
Technology transfer goes beyond licensing a patent; it involves moving technology from the inventor’s lab to the licensee’s lab, requiring active involvement from the inventor. If CU Innovations sees commercial potential in an invention without immediate licenses, we pursue patent protection and collaborate with the inventor to draft a non-confidential description.
(Source: Licensing Technology from CU, CU Innovations website)
The primary ways that university research makes impact is through publication in the open literature and training of students. The Creative Commons and Open Source Initiative licensing are legal tools that can be applied to copyrighted works and software to provide clear rights to users and collaborators. CU Innovations is supportive of open source software release, and can provide advice on appropriate tools.
Resources:
Our publication "Starting a Start-up: Successfully Managing the Dynamics of a New Company" contains detailed information on the start-up process and important legal and business considerations, as well as additional resources to help start-ups start right.
Funding through state-wide OEDIT AIA programs support our accelerator program to help mature university technologies.
CU Innovations also works closely with the Innosphere to bring the knowledge of domain experts to bear in sha ping commercialization plans for university technologies.