What Happens Next?
Once you've submitted an invention disclosure form to the U.Va. Patent Foundation, what happens next? Every disclosure is unique, but here's the gist:
- A U.Va. Patent Foundation licensing professional will be assigned to you and will contact you regarding your invention disclosure.
- The Patent Foundation's in-house patent attorneys will likely file a provisional patent application on your technology, which later could be converted to a full U.S. or international patent application.
- Your assigned Patent Foundation licensing professional will market your invention to potential licensees, companies that might be interested in licensing the technology and taking it to market.
- From this point, one of three things can happen:
- A company will be interested in the technology, and the Patent Foundation will negotiate a license agreement with that company.
- You may create a start-up company to license the technology (or license it to your own existing start-up company).
- If no licensee is found, the rights to the invention will typically be offered to the inventors, in case they would like to try on their own to find a company interested in further developing the technology.