Department of Industrial Cooperation

Technology Transfer - Information for Faculty/Staff

Standard Operating Procedures
Benefits of working with Office of Innovation and Economic Development include intellectual property protection, additional research funding through business, government, and industry partnerships, and supplemental income from royalty and the licensing revenues generated from licensing technologies.

If any of the following situations apply to you, please contact Office of Innovation and Economic Development at (207) 581-2201 so that it may assist you with protecting your intellectual property:

• You have developed an invention
• You are named as the inventor on a patent application filed by a company or branch of the U.S. government
• You are asked to provide unpublished information or research results to a company
• You are going to publish a paper or give a presentation about a research project that may involve a new invention
• A company expresses a desire to license technology from your laboratory
• You already have or would like to start a company based on technology developed at the university

According to the University of Maine System Statement of Policy Governing Patents and Copyrights (pdf), the University of Maine has the right to all inventions that university personnel conceived or first reduced to practice as a part of or as a result of a university administered program or research; activities within the scope of the inventor’s employment by the university; and activities involving the use of university time, facilities, and/or materials.

University faculty and staff looking to protect and license their inventions must take the critical first step of submitting an Invention Disclosure Form. With the information obtained from this form, Office of Innovation and Economic Development may evaluate the invention’s commercial potential, as well as their ability to successfully protect the invention through a patent or license.

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