1. To get started, you must first disclose your innovation to Venture Partners听by completing our or Copyrighted Material Submission Form. It's never too early! Disclosing your invention opens access to听IP and startup resources听补苍诲 is required for proper听compliance with sponsored research and university policy.听
2. After you disclose your innovation to Venture Partners, you will be assigned a case manager who will meet with you to discuss your invention, available resources and a commercialization strategy (how to bring your technology to market).听
Note: If you are a researcher at UCCS or you are at CU Denver and have a physical science or engineering innovation, you will work with Venture Partners.听Researchers at the Anschutz Medical campus and researchers at CU Denver with biomedical innovations will work with .听
To bring your invention to market through an industry partnership or startup company, patent and copyright protection听can be essential, as听they create market exclusivity. Venture Partners will听help听you obtain patents to support the commercialization of your听university innovations.
Patents will be pursued where there is a partnering company (startup or established), and if a partnering company is not yet present, Venture Partners has a finite patent budget that is allocated to the innovations with the highest commercial potential.听We will help you identify what resources and milestones are needed to provide a strong case for patenting and commercialization.
The process of obtaining patent funding听through Venture Partners is competitive, as our office听receives approximately 160-190 new inventions each year.听Our patent budget allows us to file U.S. provisional patent applications on about half听of these inventions.
Venture Partners will pursue patent rights where dedicated funding is available, such as reimbursement from a company licensing the innovation听or Lab Venture Challenge funds.听In absence of external funding, Venture Partners will fund patents for innovations with the highest commercial potential and viability.听This is a competitive process among the inventions received by Venture Partners.听
The specific criteria include:
- value proposition (does the invention solve a problem that is important to customers?)
- competitive advantage over existing solutions
- market validation (what feedback/traction has there been with potential users of the innovation?)
- likelihood of patentability (novelty, non-obvious, reduced to practice) and freedom to operate (doesn鈥檛 infringe others鈥� patents)
- external vetting (for example, commercialization competition outcomes and feedback)
- technology readiness (when can the technology be utilized by the intended听customer base?)
Complete answers to these criteria are rarely available immediately, but the more information the better. If a听provisional patent application is filed, it provides a year to make progress in these areas,听and Venture Partners has several resources to help you make progress (see "How to Develop Your Invention" section).听Then, as the expense rapidly increases during the years following provisional patent application, a heightened stringency is applied to these criteria.
The optimal strategy is to build commercial attractiveness as quickly as possible while patent costs are lower, and then license to an existing company or create a startup.听Venture Partners will help you identify the steps that will build value and secure competitive patent funding, licensees听补苍诲/or startup funding for your innovation.
Venture Partners听has specific resources designed to help your innovation fulfill the criteria for patent investment.听These include:
- 贰苍迟谤别辫谤别苍别耻谤颈补濒听罢谤补颈苍颈苍驳.听By hosting programs and workshops focusing on customer discovery, company formation, pitching, and what investors want, Venture Partners听helps researchers build value into their innovations.听Sessions range from 1-hour lunch & learn to multi-week programs.
- Lab Venture Challenge. This is CU Boulder鈥檚 competition for commercialization grants.听Compete for $125,000 grants plus participation in the Research-to-Market听customer discovery program.
- .听Through a formal partnership and matching funds from Venture Partners, Kairos offers $125,000 gifts to labs with strong startup prospects.听Your licensing manager can tell you more.
- Mentorship听& Advising.听Business advisors and Entrepreneurs-in-Residence are available to help you build a commercialization strategy. We host听regular events to pair innovators and advisors.听Whether you are just looking for early feedback or a CEO for your startup, we can help you connect with experts in the community.
- Innovation Readiness LevelTM. Venture Partners听will assess your innovation鈥檚 current level and what steps are needed to advance, using this tool developed by out of Stockholm, Sweden.
- .听Through Venture Partners鈥� partnership with IN-PART鈥攁n online matchmaking platform for university-industry collaboration鈥攜our innovation will be featured to hundreds of companies, opening opportunities for feedback and licensing.
View More Entrepreneurial Resources
You can also find value-building resources outside of Venture Partners, including:
- I-CorpsTM.听Employ the methodology to build a viable business model.听I-CorpsTM grants are available through and .
- SAGE Boulder.听Present your startup idea to a group of local business advisors who will provide feedback and volunteer time to help you take the next step toward spinning out.听Contact Susan Strong at听susan@innosphere.org.
- Innosphere.听An accelerator specifically-designed for science-based startups, provides entrepreneurial education, advisors, access to capital, connections to startup service providers, and introductions to strategic corporate partners.
- Catalyze CU.听Catalyze CU is CU Boulder鈥檚 equity-free, summer-long startup accelerator that combines mentorship, funding and a dedicated co-working space.
- Advanced Industries Accelerator.听Compete for of up to $150,000 from Colorado's Office of Economic Development and International Trade (OEDIT).听A partial match (1:3) is required.
- SBIR/STTR.听 provide grant funding to your startup to advance technology with high potential for commercialization.听Awards typically range from $150,000-$200,000 in Phase I and $600,000 to $2,000,000 in Phase II.
View More Off-Campus Opportunities & Events
As an inventor, you will听receive a share of the university鈥檚 revenue from licensing your invention.
When Venture Partners licenses an invention, the university may receive revenue in return, in the form of royalties, fees听补苍诲/or liquidated equity.听This is true for licenses to both established companies and startup companies.听After direct patent expenses are recovered, and any joint owners of the innovation receive their share, revenue is distributed as follows:
- 25% to inventor(s)/creator(s), personally
- 25% to the lab(s) of the inventor(s)/creator(s)
- 25% to the Chancellor; currently this is used to fund applications to the Lab Venture Challenge and other commercialization grants/gifts
- 25% to Venture Partners听to fund education, mentorship, patent, and funding resources for campus innovators
The IRS has issued a Technical Advice Memorandum (TAM) that may have a significant impact on income tax reporting for royalty payments received by faculty inventors. The university provides a Form 1099 each year to faculty receiving these payments.
To manage potential conflicts of interest, make sure to include relevant details of your consulting, third-party employment,听and/or startup in your DEPA听if you want to consult or work for a company, or start your own company.听A separate management plan may also be needed (this will be determined after your DEPA is submitted).听For guidance and questions, please contact Conflicts of Interest and Commitment (COIC) at coi@colorado.edu.听
Add the Standard Addendum for Consulting and Third Party Employment to your consulting agreement or employment agreement with the company.听This addendum ensures that your third party activities do not conflict with your obligations to the university.
Venture Partners offers several opportunities for you to find licensees for your innovations. Company contacts through research collaborations, the听Destination Startup庐 showcase event, and personal connections often serve as the primary source of licensees. Our customer discovery programs Starting Blocks and Research-to-Market听will also get you out of the lab and talking with companies.听
In addition, your licensing manager at Venture Partners will help you assess when your innovation is ready to market directly to companies and will then bring in our Business Development Associate听Nicole Forsberg for outreach efforts.
If you want to form a startup, you will need to license your innovation to your startup:
- (Most) startups complete a听Startup Option Agreement听prior to executing a license. The option ensures that the startup has an exclusive period鈥�1 year and extendable to 2 years鈥攄uring which to license the innovation.听The option period provides the startup an opportunity to seek early milestones and traction before determining whether to move ahead with a license.听
- Please see our Licensing for Entrepreneurs &听Startups page to learn about Licensing with听EASE庐 (Express Agreement for Startup Entrepreneurs), which is an investor-approved, pre-negotiated deal that makes licensing fast and easy!
