Researchers
As researchers at the University of Michigan, you create discoveries of great significance to the academic and business community with benefits to the general public. Sofia University TTO team will assist you to bring these breakthrough discoveries to the widest possible audience through commercialization.
We developed a basic guide for your reference which answer the most common questions an inventor could have.
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.
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 invented 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 or outside consulting.
Collaboration with industrial partners may also financially support your students, provide them invaluable experience, and give them potential future career paths.
You receive the larger share of payment for your invention.
These revenues can also be a source of funding for your laboratory and department.
The economy benefits as well.
Why Protect Your Invention through Patent or Copyright?
For patentable inventions, it is difficult to protect your invention once you publish it via paper, website, or presentation at a conference. We must file for patent protection before publication should we wish to obtain patent protection outside Bulgaria. If the market for your invention is global, this is an important consideration as you plan publications and public presentations.
After publication or any other public disclosure, your invention is no longer patentable.
After filing a patent application, you may exhibit or publish your work without the loss of patent protection for the inventions claimed in the application.
Patents can provide a strong economic incentive for a company to contact us. Patents exclude others to use the invention for a period ending twenty years from the patent application's filing date.
Some technology lends itself to copyright protection, such as software, educational materials, multimedia presentations, etc. In these cases, copyright protection is provided at creation.
Other materials such as vectors, plasmids, cell lines and animals (mice, rats, etc) may be maintained as proprietary materials. Often these "research tools" are licensed non-exclusively to multiple companies.