What

Patents, copyrights, and trademarks are legal methods of protecting different forms of intellectual property. The commercialization process involves contractually licensing the legal rights they convey to commercialization partners, usually in return for payments.

The mechanics of obtaining and enforcing intellectual property are a significant part of the expertise of the Polsky Science and Technology team and its service providers (including external attorneys).

For patented inventions or inventions with a patent pending: 25% of revenues (e.g., royalties, license fees, stock sales) are paid to inventors. If there is more than one inventor, the revenue is split equally among them unless they agree to an alternative arrangement. In addition, 10% of revenues are paid to the inventors’ lab(s), 5% to their department(s) and 5% to their division(s).

For non-patented inventions (for example, certain software or tangible materials): researchers may elect to not receive a personal share at all, and instead direct 85% of the gross revenues to a University research account, up to a cumulative gross revenue of $500,000. The remainder of the revenues help cover the budget of the Polsky Center, including the costs of obtaining intellectual property.

More details are available in the University’s Revenue Share Policy.

Often, a researcher’s technology is licensed to a company that has a preexisting relationship (formal or informal) with the researcher.

When this is not true, in some cases the researcher is in the best position to suggest a list of potential commercialization partners.

Additionally, the Polsky Center’s Technology Marketing team will use industry intelligence platforms to identify potential partners and conduct technology marketing outreach. If and when a partner is identified, the Polsky Center will keep the investigator informed as the licensing process proceeds.

The Polsky Center has more than two decades worth of experience in launching and scaling new startup ventures. Born out of the University of Chicago Booth School of Business, the Polsky Center applies world-class business expertise and leverages an extensive network of venture capital investors to launch startups out of the University of Chicago. Launching a startup can be an effective way to raise money to develop a technology. The Polsky Center works closely with faculty to help them launch startups that are based on University intellectual property, whether created by internal or external entrepreneurs.