New website connects inventors with IU Innovation and Commercialization Office

Researchers at all Indiana University campuses can visit a new website to disclose inventions created with university resources, learn about the commercialization process, review the IU Intellectual Property Policy, contact personnel at the IU Innovation and Commercialization Office (ICO) in Bloomington and Indianapolis, and more.

ICO operates through the Office of the Vice President for Research. It protects, markets and licenses intellectual property developed at Indiana University so it can be commercialized by industry. Personnel and activities at the office — vetting IP, applying for IP protection, and marketing and licensing IP to industry — were previously part of the IU Research and Technology Corp. IURTC, a separate organization, now focuses solely on entrepreneurship and startup creation. IURTC operates through the Office of the Vice President for Engagement.

Bill Brizzard, executive director of ICO, said the website provides a one-stop setting for IU faculty and staff researchers who want to learn how ICO can move their discoveries from the laboratory or classroom to the market.

“The process to commercialize intellectual property varies from case to case,” he said. “The new website provides information on how ICO’s personnel, including eight innovation and commercialization managers, works with inventors from beginning to end.”

Pages on the ICO site cover the following topics:

• An overview of the six steps to commercialization at IU.
• A summary of how to complete an invention disclosure to ICO.
• Definitions of intellectual property and a link to the university’s IP Policy.
• Definitions of licensing agreements.
• A link to a site that includes summaries of IU IP available for licensing.
• Questions for inventors to consider prior to forming a startup company.
• Contact information for ICO personnel, including Executive Director Bill Brizzard (Bloomington campus) and Director Dave Wilhite (Indianapolis campus).

During the 2016-2017 fiscal year, ICO set a record for issued patents received from the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office and global organizations. It also reached a 10-year high in licensing agreements.

“By disclosing inventions to Indiana University ICO, inventors form the foundation upon which all other technology transfer activities build,” Brizzard said. “Our goal is to bring discoveries to the marketplace that will impact people’s lives around the world. These operations and this goal remain the same for my colleagues and me, even as our name has changed.”