WiSys has been helping researchers in the UW System protect their ideas since the organization was founded in 2000. All UW System faculty, staff, and students at UW Comprehensive Campuses are eligible for WiSys support and are encouraged to disclose discoveries and inventions to WiSys. WiSys works with innovators with discoveries from all disciplines as well as stage of development.
For research involving federal funding, university policy as well as federal law require that inventions arising from such research be disclosed to WiSys.
Some Considerations Before Disclosing:
- The biggest thing to remember when it comes to patents is to speak to WiSys before a public disclosure is made, otherwise you may lose all rights to your invention. You only have one year in the US to file a patent application on a technology once it has been publically disclosed. If you don’t, you lose all rights to the invention. The rule is even stricter in the rest of the world, in most countries you lose all patent rights the moment you make a public disclosure.
- Keeping your information confidential when holding discussions with potential partners should be a priority. WiSys can help you put together a Confidential Disclosure Agreement (CDA) or Material Transfer Agreement (MTA) between you and another party to help protect you and your invention. Go here for more information on CDAs and MTAs.