What does the TTO do for you if you are a scientist?
The key task of the TTO is to provide all services related to knowledge transfer. The TTO employs several experts in different fields that all have experience in technology transfer, in patenting, in deal making with commercial partners, and in setting up new companies.
If you believe you have made a marketable discovery, the professionals from TTO will evaluate whether indeed there is such potential. The TTO also decides whether scientific research results can and should be patented. Scientists should be aware that the right to use their knowledge needs to be protected before they publish it. This occurs by patenting it, and TTO will work with you in evaluating first whether the finding indeed can be commercialized, and then in evaluating whether patenting is useful and possible. Crucial questions are: is it completely new and original, is it inventive (in other words, not obvious to others specialized in the technology in question), and can it indeed be applied practically.
FILING OF A PATENT DOES NOT HAVE TO PRECLUDE PUBLICATION, IN CONTRAST TO WHAT MANY RESEARCHERS BELIEVE. It can be performed in as few as 2 – 4 WEEKS, and can be particularly fast when a manuscript is already available.
See for more information, the chapters titled “For scientists” and “Patent & Copyright”
TTO also supports you in negotiations about contract research and research collaborations with industrial partners. Many variables dictate the valuation of your expertise and knowledge, and to this end the TTO employs experts from different fields of knowledge that have years of experience in technology transfer and deal-making. Finally, TTO assists you in setting up a company if that is the appropriate format to bring your expertise and knowledge to the market.
