Inventions and patents

• General intellectual property issues
• Patentability of inventions
• Inventor rights and obligations at the university
• University-specific procedures (invention and software disclosures)
• Inventions in externally funded projects/industry collaborations
• Commercialization options

• In close cooperation with the IPR and marketing agency PROvendis 

  Furthermore, the Research Funding team serves as the point of contact for drafting and negotiating cooperation or licensing agreements with companies, as well as research and development, cooperation, EU consortium, and other agreements in the area of third-party funding.

Patent Procedure

The patent application process at H-BRS is as follows:

1. Ensure the novelty of your invention—verify that it has not been disclosed through publications, notices, posters, presentations, project descriptions, reports, etc.
2. Contact the ZWT.
3. Submit a formal invention disclosure (internal) to the ZWT, even in the case of joint inventions with third parties.
4. The ZWT representatives will review your disclosure, clarify any questions, and discuss the next steps with you. After review, they will forward your invention disclosure to PROvendis for the subsequent patenting process.
5. This is followed by a patent search and examination by PROvendis
6. If the invention shows promising prospects for success, the university will claim ownership; otherwise, it will be released for exploitation by the inventor(s). 
   Claim of ownership: The university, together with PROvendis, handles the application and exploitation. The university bears the costs; the inventor receives 30 percent of the proceeds.
   Release: The inventor may file for and exploit a patent at their own expense. If they cover all costs, they also receive 100 percent of the corresponding revenue.