For Entrepreneurs

The Licensing Process

Goals

A goal of UC Berkeley’s Office of Technology Licensing (OTL) is to establish license agreements that lead to the fast and broad commercialization of Berkeley technologies to: (1) benefit the public, (2) fund research and education on the campus, and (3) reward inventors for their ingenuity. Therefore, we are motivated to expeditiously negotiate licenses with reasonable terms that consider business plans, market economics, and technology stage.

Timing

The OTL closely monitors the cadence and time it takes to complete a license. Please see below for tips on how to expedite the...

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 University of...

Annual Reports, Guides and Policies

Additional Useful UC Websites

Organizations and Offices for IP Professionals

Guides to Outside Consulting

Recommendations and policies for faculty and academic employees entering into a personal consulting agreement with a startup companies and other outside entities.

UC Berkeley Guide to Contracting Quick Guide to Outside Consulting for UC Berkeley Faculty...

Annual Reports

Industry alliance and tech commercialization synopses from UC Berkeley, as well as University of California Office of the President.

IPIRA Annual Report FY 2021 UCOP Annual Technology Commercialization Reports

IPIRA Publications

IPIRA Faculty Brochure IPIRA Entrepreneurship Brochure IPIRA Report, 2016 ...

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 ...

Licensing Practices to Support Startups

UC Berkeley encourages the formation of companies that develop products based on technologies that are created by our researchers. Successfully developing products and building companies is extraordinarily challenging. Accordingly, the campus provides an innovation and entrepreneurship ecosystem that supports our entrepreneurs and startups. As part of our ecosystem, the UC Berkeley Office of Technology Licensing follows 12 practices to support early stage startups that license the university’s IP. An asterix (*) designates practices that are also followed when licensing to mature startups...