Once OTC has engaged the commercialization of a technology, intellectual property and marketing strategies are devised and executed. Patent protection is sought for most inventions, with the exception of some software. In certain cases, other IP protection such as copyrights or trademarks may also be considered. Outside patent counsel prepares and files all University patents with the input of OTC and the inventors.

OTC has a responsibility to the University and the community to maximize the benefit of each technology and therefore engages the most promising proposed commercialization path. The University partners with entities in industry to pursue this commercialization effort. Partners vary from investors and entrepreneurs to large enterprises.
Technology transfers from the University through patent or technology license agreements, which are constructed to meet the needs of the commercialization partner while compensating the University for its contribution. Due to the nature of university research, UT Austin retains the rights to practice and publish its Intellectual Property.
University compensation can take on various forms but is usually some combination of a cash fee, patent expense reimbursements, royalties and equity. OTC designs these compensation schedules in collaboration with the commercialization partner. In accordance with the Regents Rules, researchers personally share in this compensation. Other variable licensing terms include exclusivity, fields of use, duration, sublicensing rights and required diligence milestones. Sample term sheets and agreements are available in Industry Forms.

OTC has made great strides in streamlining the licensing process and has dramatically reduced the time to execution. OTC negotiates both the business and legal terms of each license agreement. While it can take less than one week to negotiate terms and execute an agreement, most take several months. OTC has reasonable template agreements, which, if used in their entirety, leave only the business terms such as compensation up for discussion. If the commercialization partner is unable to accept certain legal terms or language in the OTC template agreement, a more extensive legal review process is required. The time to execution extends dependent upon the number of iterative revisions.

If the invention is a software application, then there is a completely different licensing process. The OTC currently has 4 different software license agreements. For a detailed description of these, click here.

One common option inventors choose is to establish a start up company. While this is primarily under the inventor’s own initiative, the OTC offers assistance in the process. for more information on this, click here.