The laboratories of the ERDC continuously assess the commercial potential of its technologies. Patent, trademark or other intellectual protection is pursued for those technologies deemed as being commercially viable.

The ERDC is authorized to license its intellectual property to private industry and other entities. Firms can buy certain rights to ERDC intellectual property for commercialization and/or private use. The patent license agreement (PLA) may be non-exclusive, partially exclusive or exclusive. The royalty is negotiated on a case-by-case basis, and takes many factors into account, such as market size, exclusivity, or whether additional technology development is needed. The laboratory may provide technical assistance on a reimbursable basis, if needed to further develop the technology. A list of patents owned by ERDC is provided below.

We can license inventions under development (and not yet patented). A list of pending patents is provided below.

We can also license scientific and technical software developed by our R&D staff for a royalty or other legal consideration. A recent success story involves the licensing of ERDC-developed software by VeriTech. For more information on the types of software available, visit our laboratories websites.