The IIT Technology Transfer (TT) FAQ section attempts to answer some of the most frequently asked questions relating to the main activities carried out by the internal divisions of which the TT Directorate is composed of.

Licensing

What is a license?

A license is permission to use a certain Intellectual Property (e.g. patents, software, know-how). The license is granted by a party (the licensor) to another party (the licensee) usually under a written license agreement and subject to economic compensation. One of the goals of the Technology Transfer is to license IIT’s technologies to companies in order to transform research results into real innovation.

What can I expect to gain if my intellectual property is licensed?

According to IIT’s IP policy, one-third of the revenues deriving from a license goes to the group of inventors, deducted from the expenses for the protection of the technology (e.g. patent costs).

How much of my time will the licensing process require?

The licensing process can require long and elaborate interactions with the partner company. It is conducted by the Technology Transfer, however, scientists have an important role in supporting the process by participating in the technical meetings with the potential licensors. Moreover, scientists are usually involved in the definition of the licensing strategy.

Research Contracts

What we mean by research contracts?

Activities sponsored by -and conducted in collaboration with- companies or other research entities on projects of common interest; they can be applied research activities, services, consulting opportunities or dissemination programs.

How about the generated IP?

Generally speaking, IIT maintains the ownership of the intellectual property on the results of the projects and grants to the company a license (exclusive or non-exclusive), capable to put the company in a solid position for downstream commercialization phase.

What is the typical length of a collaboration?

In case of a feasibility study the collaboration lasts for, typically, 3/6 months whereas a contract research the typical length is 9/36 months.

How the costs are calculated?

Only incremental costs (direct costs and overheads) of the project are paid by the company since IIT is a no-profit foundation and therefore does not calculate any markup on the project.

Patents

What is a patent?

A patent grants to the inventor the monopoly for the exploitation of the invention.

How could I protect my invention at IIT?

The TT and the inventors together investigate if the proposed invention can be patented and verify the fulfillment of patentability requirements after a deep analysis of the relevant prior art. The process to patent the invention will take about four months.

How do I submit a disclosure of my invention?

You can download the Record of Invention (ROI) form and send it to technology.transfer@iit.it together with all the relevant documentation.

What I shouldn't do in order to obtain a patent?

Before disclosing your possible invention on a paper, on a poster, during a conference, on a website, etc. please consider the opportunity to patent the idea and feel free to contact us.