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Home > Resources > Inventors

Resources for Inventors

As researchers at the University of Michigan, you develop discoveries of great significance to the academic and business community as well as the public. The technology transfer offices at the University of Michigan work with you to bring new knowledge to the widest possible audience through the commercialization of these discoveries.

Throughout this site the use of the word “Invention” will also include software creations.

Is Your Discovery an Invention?

• “Invention: a new and useful process, machine, article of manufacture, or composition of matter, or new or useful improvement upon them” (from our Glossary of Terms).
• Inventions may lead to commercial products and processes.
• Inventions may occur in any field and encompass many areas.
• Inventions may address a market or technical need.

If you’ve turned up something “new,” we’re ready to work with you to determine if your invention has commercial potential.

Rewards of Inventorship:

• Practical application of your research in developing products fosters the widest possible recognition of your research efforts.
• Collaboration with industrial partners may also result in financial sponsorship of additional research.
• Collaboration with industrial partners may also financially support your students and provide them invaluable experience, and potentially future career paths.
• You receive a share of the monetary compensation in the form of license fees or revenue payments in return for the transfer of commercial rights to an invention. (See UM Technology Transfer Policy: Distribution of Revenue.)
• These revenues can also be a source of unrestricted funding for your laboratory and department.
• The economy benefits as well. In the last 15 years, licensing of University inventions has resulted in the introduction of many new products in numerous markets and in the creation of more than sixty new companies.

Why Protect Your Invention Through Patent, Copyright, or Trademark?

• It becomes difficult to protect the originality of your work once you publish it via paper, website, or presentation at a conference. We must protect it before publication should we wish to obtain foreign patent protection. If the market for your invention is global, this is an important consideration as you plan publications.
• After publication, your invention is no longer patentable outside the U.S. while we have one year to file for a U.S. patent. (See our Patents, Copyrights & Trademarks page.)
• After filing a patent application, you can exhibit or publish your work without the loss of patent protection for the material in the application.
• Patents can provide a strong economic incentive for a company to license UM technology. Patents give UM the right to exclude others from practicing the invention for a period ending twenty years from the patent application’s filing date. This period of exclusivity presents a barrier to entry to other companies, allowing the firm that licenses the invention sufficient time to recoup its investment.
• Some technology lends itself to copyright protection. This technology is typically software, educational materials, multimedia presentations, etc. In this case, copyright protection is provided at creation, but we may also elect under certain circumstances to register the copyright with the U.S. Copyright Office.