SUBMIT YOUR INVENTION DISCLOSURE
If you are planning a public disclosure or offering a product based on the invention in the next 15 days or less, we urge you to contact our office immediately at 765-588-3475. One of our team members will discuss with you how to manage the situation and if needed, emergency IP protection measures can be taken.
*These events adversely impact the ability to obtain patent protection.
What Should Be Disclosed?
According to Purdue University’s Intellectual Property Policy (I.A.1), “Intellectual Property that arises in any part in the course of employment or enrollment at the University, or in the course of a work-for-hire relationship or visiting scholar relationship with the University, is Purdue Intellectual Property” and must be disclosed to Purdue Research Foundation as administrator of all matters pertaining to protection, use and commercialization of the intellectual property developed at Purdue University; Purdue University’s IP portfolio.
Intellectual Property includes inventions, copyrightable work (including software), and trademarks, among other things.
When Should You Submit an Invention Disclosure?
Whenever you have intellectual property (including software and source code) that arises in the course of your employment or enrollment at Purdue, including intellectual property that may have commercial potential, an Invention Disclosure (by clicking the link above) should be submitted to Purdue Innovates’ Office of Technology Commercialization (OTC) or contact us at (765) 588-3475 or at OTCLicenses@prf.org for consultation. To preserve potential patent rights, we encourage inventors to disclose their invention as early as possible in the inventive process and before a public disclosure of your invention or research results.
Imminent public disclosure?
Public disclosure of an invention or related information may affect the ability to obtain a patent. If you plan to publicly disclose Purdue Intellectual Property or offer to sell a product based on the Purdue Intellectual Property in the next 15 days or less, we urge you to contact Purdue Innovates immediately at OTCLicenses@prf.org or 765-588-3475. An OTC team member will discuss with you how to manage the situation and if needed, can file for immediate IP protection.
Public Disclosure includes, but is not limited to:
- Publication of a manuscript or abstract in a printed or online journal or website
- A displayed poster
- A presentation to an audience, such as at a conference or seminar
- A lecture describing otherwise non-public inventions (including classroom lectures)
- Dissertations or master theses
- A non-confidential customer/vendor meeting
- Sale or offer for sale of a “product” or service which uses the Purdue Intellectual Property
What happens after you disclose an invention?
Your disclosure will be assigned to an OTC IP portfolio manager who will schedule a meeting with you to evaluate the invention and next steps. For more information on the disclosure, protection and technology commercialization process at Purdue Innovates, see this story:
Interested in Releasing Software Under an Open Source License?
First, file a disclosure with OTC Invention Disclosure Portal. You will be contacted by OTC to review recommended licenses and discuss a strategy that meets the your goals.
‘Open source’ generally means releasing source code for others to view, and in many cases to be able to modify and distribute it without compensation to the owner of the code. This sometimes results in inadvertent granting of patent rights that can affect the rights of authors and other researchers at the University.
Software is protected by copyright law (sometimes patentable), and may be provided to others under a license. Licenses can be free and open, commercial, or some combination of the two (e.g. free and open to academics only, under money bearing licenses for other users).
Best practice before releasing software via an Open Source License:
- File a disclosure with OTC Invention Disclosure Portal (Click on ‘Purdue Inventors Click Here’ at bottom of page; log in using your Purdue BoilerKey; click ‘New Disclosure’ in the Tasks Box; insert the title of your software; select ‘Copyright’ as Disclosure Type; type in Description field “Open Source Request”; then complete only required fields (additional details will be gathered later) through submission.
- If you have already filed a disclosure with OTC and wish to request approval to release Open Source, contact your OTC Business Development Manager directly, or email otclicenses@prf.org.
- You will be contacted by OTC to review recommended licenses and discuss a strategy that meets the team’s goals
- Following your discussion with OTC, if appropriate, you will receive a link to a DocuSign form (Purdue University Open Source Release Request) where you can provide more detailed information (such as whether or not third-party code is incorporated in your code, funding obligations that may prohibit open release, etc.) that will inform how best to release the software.
- Ultimately, the decision whether to release code under an open source license rests with the Purdue Senior IP Officer in conjunction with the PRF Office of Technology Commercialization.