New Arizona Law Streamlines Technology Transfer

This week, the Arizona State Legislature passed bill HB 2566 that will streamline the process of university technology transfer. Under the new law, Arizona’s three state universities – the University of Arizona, Arizona State University and Northern Arizona University – will be more tightly integrated into the process of approving agreements transferring university-owned technology to entities outside the university.

In the past, the Arizona Board of Regents (ABOR) held control over decisions regarding university technology transfer agreements, and whether they were in the best interest of each university, the state and society. Since ABOR meets quarterly, these decisions often took months to work their way through the approval process.

Under the new law, the three Arizona universities will be able to make their own decisions regarding such agreements, allowing technologies to be licensed much more rapidly and make their way to the ever-faster moving marketplace.

The development represents new opportunities for Tech Launch Arizona, but no great procedural change for the unit’s workings.

Even though approval on agreements will no longer be required, each will still require a conflict of interest (COI) disclosure per state law, ensuring that agreements do not result in conflicts of interest between faculty, the UA and its partner start-ups or licensees. That revised UA-level process is currently under development.

The new law goes into effect in late June 2014, 90 days after the April 24 close of this legislative session.

Tech Launch Arizona is an essential and growing driver for economic impact in Tucson and the region. Since July 2013, Tech Launch Arizona has facilitated 131 invention disclosures, filed 109 unique patent applications for new technologies and facilitated 5 start-ups based on UA-born technologies.

“With this new law in place, we’ll be able to bring new technologies to market faster, start new companies more efficiently, and speed our societal impact,” says Tech Launch Arizona Vice President David Allen. "We're grateful for all the support from everyone at the UA and ABOR whose contributions helped get this bill passed."

To learn more about the plans and goals for Tech Launch Arizona, read the strategic plan, the TLA Roadmap.