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Invention Disclosures
Disclosing and assessing your discovery
Disclosing your innovation is an early step in the commercialization process that helps you understand the potential of your discovery.
Completing an invention disclosure
An invention disclosure includes:
- A description of your invention or discovery
- Publication dates (including conference talks, posters, and manuscripts
- Any sponsors of your research, with agreement information as available
- Names of any collaborators, and their university affiliations with email address
- Names of all IU inventors and the lab(s) where the original work was conducted
The invention disclosure gives IU a record of the date of your invention, but it does not provide any legal protection for intellectual property.
Submitting an invention disclosure
There are two ways to submit an invention disclosure:
- Go to IU's ICO Sophia database by Wellspring.
- Log in with your IU CAS credentials after clicking "IU Inventors" in red beneath the login box.
- Choose “New Invention Disclosure” on the right navigation panel.
- Download an invention disclosure form.
- Download an inventor form (for additional inventors)
- Submit by email to invent@iu.edu.
- Download a revenue distribution form
- Submit by email to invent@iu.edu.
Assessment
Your invention disclosure will receive an initial assessment, which includes conducting a literature and patent search to determine:
- If comparable technologies are already known and/or on the market and how your discovery compares to those technologies
- Whether the discovery may require intellectual property protection
- The time and investment that will be needed to bring your discovery to market
- The size and growth potential of market demand for your discovery
What comes next?
The results of the assessment will determine the next steps of the process. If a discovery has commercial potential, the next step in the commercialization process is to secure legal protection for it and seek to license the technology to a company or startup. If deemed acceptable, release using open source or creative commons licenses.