Our Process

1. Research

Research is often funded through federal, state, or private grants. For more information please contact the Research Development department within the Office of Research.

2. Discovery

Congratulations, on the breakthrough you developed! Your research produced promising results, and you are ready to publish your findings and present the new technology publicly.  Wait! Be sure to contact our office first, so we may assess and protect the underlying intellectual property to maximize the benefit for the university and our society

3. Inventor/Creator Submits an Invention, Copyright, or Software Disclosure

Once you have made the discovery and/or created an innovative work, it is crucial to formally document the new intellectual property by submitting an Invention, Copyright, or Software Disclosure to our office. This creates a record of the invention/work and allows our team to review and assess the novel technology.  The Disclosure should include a non-enabling abstract, which briefly describes in simple terms the invention or work, how it is applied, and its advantages over currently available technologies.  This non-confidential abstract will be used by our team to generate a technology marketing summary to attract interest from potential licensing partners.
To submit an intellectual property disclosure, please visit the Resources page and click on Forms.

4. OTT Review & Evaluation

Once the Disclosure is received by our office, it is assigned a unique ID and uploaded into our database.  The Licensing Associate who works with your unit will manage the invention or work through the rest of the commercialization process. The Licensing Associate will schedule a time to meet with you to discuss the technology that you developed to construct a preliminary assessment of novelty, feasibility, potential applications, and market potential. Technology assessments are presented to our Technology Commercialization Committee, which makes a recommendation to the Technology Transfer Director on whether UCF should elect title and pursue intellectual property protection

5. To Protect/Not to Protect

Each Disclosure is carefully reviewed and researched by a team of experts in scientific and industry disciplines. The recommendation to elect title and pursue intellectual property protection, or not to elect title, is based on many factors including, but not limited to: novelty, feasibility, potential market applications, limitations, risks, safety, prior public disclosure, competitive landscape, and prior art. If the Technology Transfer team does not recommend electing title, you may still have other options.  The Licensing Associate can discuss these options with you. You will be notified within 90 days from receipt of Disclosure whether or not the University will elect title and pursue intellectual property protection.

6. Intellectual Property Protection

There are three primary ways in which intellectual property is protected at UCF:

Patents
Patents protect inventions and discoveries, granting the inventor exclusive rights to make, use, and sell the invention for a limited period of time. There are several types of patents—utility, design, and plant—each covering specific categories of inventions.

Copyrights
Copyrights protect original works of authorship, including books, music, software, and other creative content. They grant the creator exclusive rights to reproduce, distribute, perform, and display the work. Copyright protection is automatic upon creation; however, registration provides additional legal benefits.

Trademarks
Trademarks protect names, symbols, logos, and slogans used to identify goods or services. They distinguish your brand in the marketplace. Registering a trademark with the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) provides legal protection and exclusive rights to use the mark.

Patent Process Overview

The majority of intellectual property disclosed to our office is protected through utility patents and generally follows this process:

1. A provisional patent application is filed.
2. Within 12 months, a non-provisional patent application must be filed.
3. Approximately 18 months after the earliest filing date, the USPTO publishes the patent application.
4. The USPTO examines the non-provisional application.
5. If the examiner issues an Office Action rejecting the application, UCF—working with the inventor(s)—may respond with amended or new claims, arguments, or appeals as needed.
6. If the examiner’s rejections and/or objections are overcome, the USPTO issues a Notice of Allowance and requests payment of the issue fee.
7. Upon payment, the patent is formally issued to UCF.

On average, the patent prosecution process takes approximately 24 to 36 months.