The Pitt Innovator's Guide to Technology Commercialization

The Technology
Transfer CoMMITTee
WWhen you submit your invention
disclosure to OTM for commercial consideration,
it goes before the University’s
Technology Transfer Committee (TTC)
for review. This peer-review committee,
made up of University administrators
and faculty members, meets monthly
to determine the commercial merits
of the submitted invention disclosures
and decides in which innovations the
University should invest its limited time,
money, and other resources. In general,
the committee historically has approved
for commercialization an estimated
55 percent of all those submitted to
OTM in a given year.
TTC typically considers three main
criteria in determining an innovation’s
commercial merit:
Is your idea protectable? The
committee will assess whether your idea
holds to the legal definition of invention,
including whether it is new, useful,
and non-obvious. The U.S. Patent and
Trademark Office won’t even consider
your idea for patenting if it doesn’t meet
that standard. And since most commercial
partners won’t consider licensing
your innovation without some kind of
exclusive rights that come with patent or
copyright protection, the University will
pursue commercialization only when it
can protect that exclusivity—and defend
it when necessary in court.
As part of this assessment, OTM will
investigate all issues that emerge from
an invention disclosure that could hinder
intellectual property rights, such as the
existence of restrictive corporate-sponsored
research, or the use of outside
materials to which the University does
not have the intellectual property rights.
A patent search might also turn up prior
art that could undermine the seeming
novelty of your idea.
In addition, TTC often will enlist the help
of a peer reviewer to assess technical
issues related to your innovation.
Is the patent protection on your
idea enforceable? While your idea
might merit patent protection according
to patenting standards, a patent holds
little value if you can’t defend it against
those who copy your idea, or infringe
on your exclusive rights. Indeed, just
because your idea might be protected
under patent law doesn’t guarantee that
it will be protected in the court of law.
Consider the following example of a
real patent filed for a technique that
transforms a common laser pointer
into an exercise device and method
for cats (see page 20). If you have ever
tormented your feline in this manner for
amusement, you’ve technically violated
the patent holder’s exclusive rights. But
try enforcing such patent rights against
anyone who has ever used a laser
pointer in this manner. You’ll find that
defending such a patent would prove
nearly impossible. So the University
takes such enforceability into serious
consideration.
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