Licensing for all patented technologies of all
of the various Institutes and Centers of the NIH is handled by a
staff of Licensing Specialist in the Office of Technology Transfer
in the Office of the Director of NIH
Why does the NIH license its patents?
The PHS licenses its patents and patent applications to private
sector organizations in order to allow the public to benefit from
the research in the form of a commercial product. In order to give
commercial entities the incentive to spend money and time, the companies
require the rights and protection that a patent gives in the competitive
marketplace. The PHS attempts to license technologies to as many
commercial organizations as possible in order to ensure that each
technology is being fully developed for the benefit of public health.
However, there are certain circumstances in which granting an exclusive
license to a single organization is beneficial for the development
and commercialization of a technology. For example, due to the high
risks and costs associated with technologies involving new drugs
and vaccines, the PHS will generally grant exclusive licenses to
organizations as incentives to research and develop these types
of technologies.
Licensing CRADA inventions.
A Cooperative Research and Development Agreement (CRADA) is a collaborative
agreement between a PHS laboratory and a non Federal organization
in which both parties contribute intellectual resources toward the
goal of jointly developing a new technology. As a result of the
partnership, the CRADA partner has the first option to choose an
exclusive or nonexclusive license for any technologies developed
under the CRADA.
Please Note: If your invention is a result of a
CRADA partnership, please include that information in your EIR form
since special procedures apply to licensing CRADA inventions
|