UWS and Intellectual Ventures (IV) have entered into an agreement that will provide UWS with an additional avenue for the commercialisation of intellectual property (IP). UWS I&C’s current strategies for the commercialisation of IP may involve licensing, spin-outs or joint ventures. These avenues are the normal routes for university IP to reach the market and provide community benefit. They are resource intensive but essential for the University to have the greatest chance of reaping maximum return from its research efforts.
IV invests in early stage ideas and inventions that, in isolation, may appear to have limited value. Through its large network of innovative contributors and technological expertise, IV is able to bundle inventions into portfolios so that their value may be realised by a worldwide network that is seeking solutions to identified problems.
All invention disclosures from within UWS are initially screened by the Innovation team at UWS I&C and assessed via a rigorous evaluation process. The IV model provides an alternative path to market which enables the University to potentially harvest IP income and take a larger number of inventions to the world from inventive, pre-patent ideas than we might have otherwise.
The IV model includes engagement with chosen research groups in the University to alert them to identified areas of industry need and training in new ways of generating ideas. An inventor’s early stage idea has an opportunity to flourish, with the possibility of immediate cash return and potential growing returns to both the inventor and UWS over time.
This platform is an additional avenue for academic inventiveness to reach a successful commercialisation outcome for UWS research, inventions, and ideas.
