For Industry

Venture Capital-Funded Research

Venture capital firms can fund research at UC Berkeley that may lead to intellectual property (IP), which a VC-designated startup company (a NewCo) can license. There are several approaches for structuring this kind of collaboration.

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Plugging into the UC Berkeley Startup Ecosystem

Many early-stage investors, accelerators, service providers, and corporations want to know how to plug into UC Berkeley’s ecosystem of startup companies. The university encourages this interest and values the resulting connections. Accordingly, the campus has staff, web content, programs, and events that facilitate connecting with Berkeley startups.

University-Industry Engagement Funding Models

The IPIRA Industry Alliances Office assists in establishing, developing, and formalizing relationships between UC Berkeley and companies interested in funding research. Contact the IPIRA Concierge to discuss an engagment between UC Berkeley and industry.

Student Capstone Programs

Bring your company's real-world challenge to a student team and get fresh ideas, a proof-of-concept, or actionable recommendations—while mentoring the next generation of talent. A capstone project is a major, multi-faceted assignment, often a research project, applied problem-solving, or creative product, that serves as a culminating experience at the end of a degree program or course.

IPIRA Publications

Access R&D Facilities and Equipment

Berkeley Research Infrastructure Commons

The UC Berkeley campus has R&D facilities that industry users can access through the Berkeley Research Infrastructure Commons (Berkeley RIC). The Berkeley RIC facilities are available to industry users for commercial purposes under commercial rate structures and business-friendly intellectual property terms.

Other Resources Off Campus

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Annual Reports

Who Should Disclose Inventions

How do you know if you should disclose an invention to the Berkeley Office of Technology Licensing (OTL)?

Submit an invention disclosure if any of the following is true. The innovation was created:

by a UC Berkeley employee as part of their scope of employment, or using UC Berkeley research facilities, or using funds administered through UC Berkeley

An invention that meets any of those criteria, and therefore could potentially be owned by the university, must be disclosed to OTL under the UC employee agreement. This ensures the...

A Primer for IP Rights Agreements

There are several different forms of licensing arrangements that companies can explore for commercializing UC Berkeley research discoveries. The IPIRA Office of Technology Licensing negotiates these contracts on behalf of UC Berkeley, with standardized terms designed to lower transaction costs, and accelerate the commercialization of university research. Companies choose whether to enter into an IP rights letter agreement or option agreement, or pursue a full license agreement immediately, based on their strategy for ...