FOR INDUSTRY AND INVESTORS
Northwestern is committed to nurture an interactive relationship with entrepreneurs, the investment community and industry. As a member of the business community, involvement can be as a licensor, as a sponsor of research or as a donor.
Licensing Inventions
A license is an agreement under which the licensor (Northwestern University) grants a licensee (the company) the right to make, use and sell products based on patent rights, copyrights, trademark, proprietary materials or research tools and know-how. This grant may be exclusive or non-exclusive.
- Licenses may be granted for a few years or for the life of patents, copyrights or trademark.
- To determine an invention's efficacy, occasionally, a company may want a short-term, exclusive option for a license while evaluating the commercial potential of the NU technology.
- Reimbursement to the University of all patent costs, in the case of exclusive licenses, to protect the licensed technologies
- Financial terms include:
- a license fee (or "up-front" payment) and equity in the case of spin-off companies
- milestone payments
- minimum annual royalties; and royalties on net sales of products. - License provisions include the University's right to take back the technology if the licensee is not aggressively pursuing its development
Start-Ups with Northwestern Tech
Entrepreneurs create and launch new ventures based on innovative
technologies from Northwestern. See
our list of Start-up companies that have
spun out of NU in the past few years.
Sponsoring Research At Northwestern
In most cases industry-sponsored research represents a commitment
by both parties to collaborate in investigating an area of mutual
scientific interest. As with any agreement, terms and conditions
must satisfy the basic goals of both parties.
Research agreements are executed by the Office
of Sponsored Research (OSR). Tech Transfer provides assistance
in the review and negotiation of the protection of intellectual
property, invention rights, and options to license.
Corporate Relations at Northwestern
The mission of the Office of Corporate Relations at Northwestern is to advance research and teaching through mutually beneficial relationships with business and industry. In that role, we facilitate both philanthropic support of Northwestern and industry-sponsored research.