TVO exists to fulfill a number of interlocking and mutually dependent activities associated with the commercialization of intellectual property created by faculty and students at Brown, at the Marine Biological Laboratory in Woods Hole, MA, and at the Women and Infants Hospital of Rhode Island. These activities involve:

• Identifying and protecting intellectual property, primarily inventions which may be patented but also include copyrights;

• Negotiating and maintaining licenses for intellectual property with existing companies and/or creating start-up companies;

• Developing industrial relationships and stimulating collaborative research;

• Complying with regulations and policies of the federal government and other research sponsors pertaining to the management of intellectual property;

• Supporting Brown portfolio companies;

• Overseeing the exchange of research materials between Brown and other institutions;

• Providing a focal point for new high-technology ventures involving the academic community and emerging areas of opportunity in evolving research fields; and

• Building partnerships based on the research enterprise to serve the broader community.

A major component of TVO’s daily effort is devoted to the identification, evaluation, and protection of inventions through the patenting process. The recently revised Brown University Patent and Copyright Policy may be viewed here. Working closely with faculty and students, the TVO team evaluates Invention Disclosures for patentability, assesses their commercial potential and reviews the strength of the underlying science or technology. On average, fifty percent of the received Disclosures are taken forward and a patent is drafted using TVO’s internal resources or its network of external patent attorneys. The granting of a United States Patent can typically take up to three years and involves detailed evaluation and prosecution. Overseas filings can add to this timescale.

The protection of an invention by patent filing will not delay the publication or the presentation of a paper but patent rights can be lost due to various pre-filing disclosures. For that reason, advance notice of the invention and the intent to disclose is highly advisable.

While the patenting process is underway, TVO works with the inventors to identify potential commercial partners and manages the associated negotiations from drafting the original term sheet through the completion of a license agreement.  Licenses are established with either existing companies or the intellectual property may be used to nucleate a start-up venture involving Brown faculty and students. License negotiations are the responsibility of TVO but certain clauses, publication timing restrictions, or representations about conflicting agreements are negotiated with the advice and consent of the Office of Sponsored Projects (OSP). Conversely, OSP consults with TVO on contract clauses of sponsored research agreements related to intellectual property rights.

In joint efforts with the Office of Sponsored Projects, cooperative research programs are also arranged under which companies can increase their R&D effectiveness by drawing upon University resources.