Licensing Technology - Office Of Technology Transfer

Commercializing UCF Technology

How to get started:

Identify and evaluate a specific innovation

The University of Central Florida is a research intensive university, and our faculty, staff, postdocs, and students are creating innovations every day. We have many research disciplines touching dozens of marketplace categories. Often, industry partners identify a potential technology through relationships with our inventors, licensing managers, or by searching our easy to navigate portfolio of technologies currently available for licensing.

Request additional information

Once you have identified a specific technology, contact our office. We will provide non-confidential information describing the technology, or we may execute a Confidential Disclosure Agreement to provide additional unpublished information. In order to gain more technical details, we may introduce you to the inventor(s). If you would like to assess the technology and/or the business opportunity for technology commercialization, we may suggest signing a time-limited internal evaluation license.

Term sheet

We will sometimes provide an initial Term Sheet based on our discussions with you. This Term Sheet will outline plans for exclusivity, field of use, grant of rights, and sublicense provisions. Royalties, license issue fees, minimums, milestone payments, equity, and other terms are customized to fit each unique license agreement.

Draft, negotiate, and sign a license agreement

We will draft an agreement based on our discussions with you, using the terms outlined in the Term Sheet, if applicable, and the legal terms required by the university’s policies. The agreement may include developmental timelines, performance milestones, revenue projections, and how you plan to bring the product to market. Once both parties agree to the final language, we will execute the agreement.

Develop and enter the marketplace!

Our team of licensing professionals works closely with you to monitor performance and to adjust developmental milestones, when appropriate, to ensure successful commercialization of the technology. Licensees are required to report no less than annually on the progress of product development and on the sales of the licensed technology.

License Agreements

You can partner with us by checking out the Tech Locator page to find solutions to meet your company’s needs or by launching a startup company based on one of our hand curated Startups Start Here opportunities.

A license agreement with UCF may include the following financial terms:

1. Upfront License Fee

An initial payment is made by the licensee to the university upon signing the agreement. This fee compensates the university for granting the license and can help cover initial administrative costs.

2. Intellectual Property Protection Reimbursement

These cost reimbursement fees are paid by the licensee to cover the costs associated with filing, prosecuting, and maintaining patents and/or registering copyrightable works or trademarks, as appropriate, related to the licensed technology. This term ensures that the university is not financially burdened by intellectual property-related expenses.

3. Sublicensing Non-Royalty Consideration

If the license agreement allows the licensee to sublicense the licensed intellectual property, the licensee typically pays the university a percentage of all consideration received by licensee for the grant of the sublicense. These payments provide consideration to the university, which otherwise could license the intellectual property directly to other licensees.

4. Developmental Milestone Payments

These payments are made when the licensee achieves specific development or commercialization milestones (e.g., regulatory approval, first commercial sale). These payments incentivize the licensee to progress the development and commercialization of the technology.

5. Royalties

These are ongoing payments based on a percentage of the licensee’s (or sublicensee’s) sales of products or services that utilize the licensed technology. Royalties provide the university with a share of the revenue generated from its intellectual property.

6. Minimum Royalties

These fees correspond to the minimum amount that the licensee must pay annually, regardless of actual sales. This term ensures that the university receives a baseline level of compensation and encourages the licensee to actively commercialize the technology.

7. Annual Maintenance Fees

These are regular payments made by the licensee to maintain the license. These fees ensure that the licensee remains committed to the agreement and provide ongoing support to the university.

8. Equity

In some cases, the university may receive equity in the licensee’s company as part of the compensation. This term allows the university to benefit from the company’s growth and success

These financial terms help align the interests of both parties, ensuring that the university is fairly compensated for its intellectual property while providing the licensee with the necessary rights to develop and commercialize the technology.