The Office of Technology Commercialization works with our faculty and other researchers to protect their ideas and inventions.
If you have an invention or idea for software or a technology that you think might be patentable or otherwise protectable—through copyright protection, for example—our team can help you. We strongly advise that you submit invention disclosures or software disclosures well in advance of any anticipated publication or presentation, as public disclosure will eliminate foreign patent rights and may create complications for U.S. patent rights. See instructions and forms below. Contact any member of the OTC team if you have any questions regarding the process of disclosing your software or invention.
The first step in disclosing an invention is filling out an invention disclosure form. We need this form to accurately track your invention. Federal law requires that UT Dallas notify a government agency of inventions made under federally supported research. For this reason, it is essential that we know whether your technology was developed under federal sponsorship.
Things you should know
- All inventions and software are owned by the UT System Board of Regents.
- Inventors get 30-50% of royalties automatically.
- We can file a provisional patent even while you’re actively working on the invention.
Inventions
Return your completed disclosure form to OTC per instructions on the form. In the majority of cases, we will file a provisional patent application with the information that you provide. A provisional patent application must meet all of the requirements of 35 U.S.C. section 112. In brief, it must have a complete written description that enables one of skill in the art to practice the invention. A member of our staff can help you determine the level of detail necessary.
Downloadable Forms
- Invention Disclosure Form, fillable PDF
- Invention Release Report Form, fillable PDF
- Instructions for Completing Disclosure Form, PDF
Software
Return your completed disclosure form to OTC. For software, we generally do not file provisional patent applications. However, our office is responsible for granting software licenses to outside entities. For other software questions (including questions about open source releases), please contact Jennifer Shockro.