Can You Still Profit From A Project With Nsf Funding?

[Masselin]

If an individual's research project is funded by the NSF, can the individual still profit from the invention?

[Chaunceler]

There are some funding vehicles specifically reserved for small businesses, such as Small Business Innovation Research(look up: SBIR) contracts/grants. In those cases, the government may specifically ask you to describe your commercialization plan were you to be successful. NSF tends to fund basic research, so while it's certainly possible to invent something with great utility, it's also likely that more work will be needed to figure out how it would be used in a practical application. Other funding agencies, particularly those associated with the armed forces, tend to solicit applied research and may ask you to build some component or perhaps an entire system, the commercial applications of which are more obvious to you. There is also a thing called a CRADA, or Cooperative Research and Development Agreement, in which the obligations of both the Government and the researcher are spelled out, which can include more favorable treatment of the intellectual property(from the researcher's point of view).In general, for U.S. Government-funded research, the Government retains some rights to the subject work. Even this may not be a showstopper for you though, as government agencies paying for applied research would(in the end) like product, as opposed to ideas. Many researchers have "spun out" technology from grant-funded research. There are even ways to continue to apply for grants once you have a commercialization activity underway, but you would have to take care to only do research that wouldn't "taint" your intellectual property that was developed with private funds. There are a lot of entities out there that provide information and help to small business researchers. The large defense contractors have teams who monitor SBIR work and can provide a technology transition path for the work into government applications. The other approach is to build a useful application from it and then either market it or license it to some larger company for use with their own products.

[Coltere]

TheMahout said: 1 There are some funding vehicles specifically reserved for small businesses, such as Small Business Innovation Research(look up: SBIR) contracts/grants. In those cases, the government may specifically ask you to describe your commercialization plan were you to be successful. NSF tends to fund basic research, so while it's certainly possible to invent something with great utility, it's also likely that more work will be needed to figure out how it would be used in a practical application. Other funding agencies, particularly those associated with the armed forces, tend to solicit applied research and may ask you to build some component or perhaps an entire system, the commercial applications of which are more obvious to you. There is also a thing called a CRADA, or Cooperative Research and Development Agreement, in which the obligations of both the Government and the researcher are spelled out, which can include more favorable treatment of the intellectual property(from the researcher's point of view).In general, for U.S. Government-funded research, the Government retains some rights to the subject work. Even this may not be a showstopper for you though, as government agencies paying for applied research would(in the end) like product, as opposed to ideas. Many researchers have "spun out" technology from grant-funded research. There are even ways to continue to apply for grants once you have a commercialization activity underway, but you would have to take care to only do research that wouldn't "taint" your intellectual property that was developed with private funds. There are a lot of entities out there that provide information and help to small business researchers. The large defense contractors have teams who monitor SBIR work and can provide a technology transition path for the work into government applications. The other approach is to build a useful application from it and then either market it or license it to some larger company for use with their own products. 51 months ago

[Chet]

For universities, small businesses, or non-profit institutions it is possible under Bayh-Dole Act ....I am not sure about individuals.This from WikipediaPerhaps the most important change of Bayh-Dole is that it reversed the presumption of title. Bayh-Dole permits a university, small business, or non-profit institution to elect to pursue ownership of an invention in preference to the government.Recipient requirementsSmall businesses and non-profit organizations can retain the title in a federally funded "subject invention." In exchange, the organization is required to:Report each disclosed invention to the funding agency Elect to retain title in writing within a statutorily prescribed timeframe File for patent protection Grant the federal government a non-exclusive, non-transferable, irrevocable, paid-up license to practice or have practiced on its behalf throughout the world Actively promote and attempt to commercialize the invention Not assign the rights to the technology, with a few exceptions Share royalties with the inventor Use any remaining income for education and research Give preference to US industry and small business Sources: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bayh-Dole_Act googly 66 months ago Please sign in to give a compliment. Please verify your account to give a compliment. Please sign in to send a message. Please verify your account to send a message.

[Bredon]

....I am not sure about individuals.This from WikipediaPerhaps the most important change of Bayh-Dole is that it reversed the presumption of title. Bayh-Dole permits a university, small business, or non-profit institution to elect to pursue ownership of an invention in preference to the government.Recipient requirementsSmall businesses and non-profit organizations can retain the title in a federally funded "subject invention." In exchange, the organization is required to:Report each disclosed invention to the funding agency Elect to retain title in writing within a statutorily prescribed timeframe File for patent protection Grant the federal government a non-exclusive, non-transferable, irrevocable, paid-up license to practice or have practiced on its behalf throughout the world Actively promote and attempt to commercialize the invention Not assign the rights to the technology, with a few exceptions Share royalties with the inventor Use any remaining income for education and research Give preference to US industry and small business