Filling out an Invention Disclosure entails a series of steps and need to be carefully thought through. If you get stuck or simply need help getting started, you can call a TLA licensing manager at any time.
When you take your first look at the Invention Disclosure form either online or in Word form, you'll find that while it's brief, it does require the gathering of a number of essential details.
Download MS Word disclosure form
This breakdown will help you to fill out your disclosure, as well as outline key points that you may need to consider.
Title of the Invention
Use a brief title, omitting any confidential information, acronyms, and trademarks (title should be generic).
Brief Summary
Write a general description of the invention, concisely describing what you consider to be the essence of the invention and capturing the essential core concepts and results, including advantages and features of the invention. Also:
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Attach a detailed description of the invention, advantages/improvements over existing methods/devices/materials, and possible modifications;
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Attach any related manuscripts, publications, presentations, posters, etc.; and
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Omit any ITAR* restricted/controlled information.
* International Traffic in Arms Regulations, a U.S. regulatory regime to control the export of defense/military technologies to safeguard the nation and further the goals of U.S. foreign policy.
Voice of the Inventor
In your own words, describe the technology and how you think it could be used. Keep it brief — just one or two sentences will do!
Invention Support
The University is required to report all inventions made with Federal funding to the relevant agency, so it’s essential to include details such as the agency and the grant number.
List all other potentially relevant grants, funds, collaborations, or materials received from third parties so we can report back to the sponsoring groups and determine if there are any pending license rights to the invention.
Publication Dates
Provide accurate dates and comments to enhance the understanding of critical events, and make a note if you wish to discuss these issues with us. We want to know about things like potential public disclosures (papers, posters, abstracts, talks, etc. - including those that are planned) of the invention – that’ll help us and our lawyers evaluate any potential patent protection issues, and address any issues as quickly as possible.
Commercial Potential
To the best of your ability, outline similar technologies in your market space, as well as who you think some potential licensees might be. The more specific you can be, the better.
Contributors
Contributors are individuals who may have conceived or developed elements of the invention, either independently or jointly with others.
If this Invention Disclosure results in a patent application, a patent attorney will determine inventorship based on information from contributors listed in this form. Fill in the “Contribution %” for UArizona Contributors only to provide your assessment of each individual’s relative contribution to the concepts of the invention.
License revenues, if any, will be distributed according to University policy. The first individual listed will be TLA’s primary contact and will be the point of contact for information to share with the other contributors.
Please provide complete addresses. Any non-UArizona affiliation should be stated (e.g., corporate, Department of Veterans Affairs (VA), other university or universities, or joint appointments).
Attach an Additional Contributors page if necessary. If contributions of a Contributor are affiliated with more than one department, TLA will need the names of each relevant department and a breakdown of the “Contribution %” of that Contributor applicable to each department (due to revenue sharing with each department). The best way to do this is to use a separate entry for each department of the Contributor. If this breakdown is not provided, then each department will be weighted equally.
Declaration and Submission
All contributors must review and sign the Declaration. Please e-mail your completed form to disclosure@tla.arizona.edu and follow up by mailing the original form (plus any Additional Contributor pages) to Tech Launch Arizona, “Attention: Invention Disclosures.”
Attorney-Client Privileged Communication
The information in Invention Disclosure is confidential and should not be disclosed to persons outside the University or to persons not requiring access to this information.
We're here to help.
Contact the TLA licensing expert in your field – we are happy to assist you through the process.