Office of Research and Innovation
University of Louisville
Louisville, Ky. 40202
502.852.6512, 502.852.2594 (Fax)
Looking for a unit within the Office of Research and Innovation? Contact information here.
Licensing Technologies
Licensing University of Louisville IP saves your company time and money on discovery, development and patenting, with the backing of top-notch UofL researchers. UofL technology transfer includes medicine, software, materials engineering technologies and more.
The University of Louisville is dedicated to translating research from the lab to the market, where pioneering discoveries and innovations can positively impact society at-large. These innovations include medicine, software, materials engineering technologies and more.
At UofL, intellectual property, licensing and other technology transfer activities are handled by Innovation & Technology Transfer, which frequently licenses these innovations to industry partners for further development and commercialization.
By licensing a university technology, your company can save time and money on discovery, development and patenting, all while knowing what you've licensed is backed by UofL's top-notch researchers.
Featured Technology Portfolios
You can view all of our technologies here. Our in-demand technology portfolios include:
- Anti-viral technologies, including diagnostics, treatments and therapies;
- Biomedical assist devices, including those for chronic respiratory conditions.
- Additive manufacturing;
- Energy, including renewables/sustainability, solar power and battery technologies;
- Social innovations;
- And so much more. View all of our preprepared portfolios here.
IP and Licensing Questions
What is UofL's licensing process?
Our licensing process strives to provide the most flexible, individual deal-focused negotiations as possible. We craft licensing deals that maximize the benefits for the licensee and the public. We view licensing as an ongoing and engaging partnership, rather than a simple transaction. For more information, contact the Innovation and Technology Transfer team.
Licensee Milestones
All of our exclusive commercialization partners are required to meet product development milestones in our license agreements to ensure UofL innovations are being brought to the market. These milestones are set on a case-by-case basis, and will be included in your contract.
UofL Commercial Partners
UofL works with companies of all types, shapes and sizes to commercialize its technologies: from startups to international corporations, from the energy industry to biomedical devices.
The most important thing is fit: we want to find the right partner for the right technology. At UofL, we view the licensing process as a long-term relationship. We want to work side-by-side with you to further the technology's development and get it to market.
UofL Startups
Yes! We're extremely proud of our startups. We've had several, and you can read more about some of them here. We even have some startups that are now publicly traded.
For UofL startups, founders can take all shapes - sometimes it's a UofL inventor, or someone outside the university who saw potential in our technology. In any case, UofL is the perfect place to find (and maybe launch) your next business venture.
General Questions
Patents vs. Copyrights vs. Trademarks
There are several types of intellectual property. UofL handles three key buckets:
- Patents are the most common type of IP resulting from UofL research, and protect processes, inventions and technologies. Examples of patents might include new medications, materials, electrical components. Subtypes of patents we often see include utility patents (the most common, protecting technologies and processes themselves), design patents (protecting the look and design of technologies) and plant patents (protecting newly created hybrids and species of plants).
- Copyrights protect the way ideas are expressed, such as through music or the written word, rather than the ideas themselves. Examples might include art, music, books, plays and even back-end code for software and programs.
- Trademarks protect things like symbols, names and colors, most often associated with branding. One example is the UofL logo.
Licenses vs. Options
Licenses and options are a method of transferring intellectual property from the university to your company.
With a license, your company gains the right to use our technology commercially under contracted terms. Licenses can either be exclusive, meaning only your company can use the technology while contracted, or non-exclusive, meaning many companies can use the same intellectual property at the same time. Software is a good example of the latter - many companies may use the same word processor or customer relationship management software. In either case, companies will usually pay a fee called 'royalties,' which are a percentage of net sales.
Options are similar to a license, but do not require an immediate commitment. Options are an opportunity to 'test drive' a technology for a set term, with the option to license once that term is over.
UofL Technology Transfer
University researchers seek to make discoveries and answer questions, and sometimes, those answers can help improve or even save lives. They may discover a new treatment for disease, a stronger building material or ways to better harness renewable energy.
When this happens at UofL, we work to get those discoveries into the hands of commercial partners, who can work with us to further develop them and get them to market. This process is called technology transfer. UofL technology transfer activities are handled by the Innovation and Technology Transfer team.
