Tech Commercialization 101
The Polsky Center translates groundbreaking discoveries into real-world impact through licensing, startups, and industry partnerships.
Our team works to evaluate market opportunities, protect intellectual property, secure funding, and develop pathways to bring new technologies from the lab to the marketplace.
When should you contact us?
Engage the Polsky Center before you publicly disclose your work.
Public disclosure before patent filing may limit or eliminate patent rights.
Your best solution to avoid this situation is to contact the Polsky Center team at polskylicensing@uchicago.edu if you have any questions about what constitutes a public disclosure. We are here to answer any questions.
Public disclosure includes:
Publishing
Journal articles, manuscripts, and other scholarly publications may be considered public disclosures if shared before intellectual property protections are evaluated.
arXiv/bioRxiv posting
Uploading preprints or unpublished research to public repositories such as arXiv, bioRxiv, medRxiv, or similar platforms may impact patent rights.
Conference presentations
Presenting research through talks, posters, symposiums, or conference materials can publicly disclose details of an invention or discovery.
Grant abstracts
Publicly accessible grant abstracts, research summaries, or project descriptions may disclose commercially valuable aspects of your work.
Thesis defenses
Dissertations, thesis defenses, and publicly available academic submissions may include disclosures that affect intellectual property protection.
Sharing with companies
Providing confidential research information, materials, or technical details to external companies without appropriate agreements in place may constitute public disclosure.
Media interviews
Discussing unpublished research, inventions, or scientific discoveries with journalists, media outlets, or public communications channels may result in public disclosure.
The Commercialization Journey
The Polsky Center guides researchers through every stage of the commercialization process — from invention disclosure to licensing and startup creation.
Invention
Conduct field-defining research in the lab
Protection
Evaluate and secure intellectual property
Resources:
Discovery
Validate market and evaluate problem-solution fit
Go to market
Form a startup
Build
Build prototypes, teams, and operational plans
Fund
Secure capital and financial infrastructure
Grow
Scale impact and optimize operations
resources:
Find a partner
Market
We position innovations for real-world application by identifying markets, validating demand, and connecting with potential partners.
License
Our team completes licensing agreements with companies ready to develop and scale new technologies. This also includes CDA, MTA, and option agreements.
Commercialize and impact
Partners and startups develop technologies into products and services that create scientific, societal, and economic impact.
Thinking of launching a startup? We’re here to help.
The Polsky Center can connect you with mentors, coaches, and our venture development team to support you at any milestone – whether you are just getting started or ready to raise a Series A round.
The Commercialization Journey isn’t always linear. While we offer programs designed for various milestones, there is no set path you need to take when working with us. We’re here to meet you where you are and can help you determine which path is best for you.
Ready to explore the potential commercialization of your innovation?
Connect with the Polsky Center team to discuss commercialization, licensing, and startup opportunities.
Tech Commercialization FAQs
Yes. If researchers, staff, or students come up with an invention in the course of their work at the University, and/or with the substantial aid of its facilities and/or funds administered by it, they are obligated to disclose the invention to the University.
This obligation serves the University’s mission of bringing the benefits of its research to the public, as commercial channels may be the most efficient dissemination mechanism for certain types of technologies.
Federal grants typically require that inventions made using federal funds be disclosed to the University and reported to the government. Other research sponsors typically impose similar conditions.
The decision of whether or not to file a patent application depends on many factors. The Polsky Center evaluates the commercial potential of each submitted disclosure, including:
Is intellectual property protection necessary to incentivize a party to bring the product or service to market, and if so, is there potential to secure such protection?
- Does the technology meet the legal requirements to be patented?
- Does the technology fulfill a significant unmet need?
- What are the challenges associated with bringing the product or service to the marketplace?
- What value will it have in the marketplace?
When the Polsky Center team decides filing a patent application is appropriate, the more available and engaged the inventor is, the stronger and more valuable the resulting patent. Although the Polsky Center staff and external patent attorneys have technical backgrounds, the inventors are needed to review patent application drafts for accuracy and relevance.
Once an application is filed, it usually takes 2-4 years to obtain an issued patent. During that period, occasional communications may be received from the patent office, which require responses. Often, assistance from the inventors is typically required each time to help the patent attorney respond.
Often, a researcher’s technology is licensed to a company that has a preexisting relationship (formal or informal) with the researcher. When this is not true, in some cases the researcher is in the best position to suggest a list of potential commercialization partners.
Additionally, the Polsky Center’s Technology Marketing team will use industry intelligence platforms to identify potential partners and conduct technology marketing outreach. If and when a partner is identified, the Polsky Center will keep the investigator informed as the licensing process proceeds.
The Polsky Center and University Research Administration work closely together on agreements with external parties.
Polsky Center Responsibilities:
- License Agreements
- Option Agreements
- Outgoing Materials Transfer Agreements to for-profit entities
- New Company Formation
- Confidentiality Agreements (associated with inventions disclosed to the Polsky Center)
- Inter-institutional Agreements (IP management and revenue sharing between institutions)
University Research Administration Responsibilities:
- Sponsored Research Agreements
- Material Transfer Agreements except those outgoing to for-profit entities
- Software Transfer Agreements
- Clinical Studies Agreements
- Compliance
- Subcontracts
- Data Use Agreements
- Confidentiality Agreements (associated with non invention related research)
- Conflict-of-interest matters
For more information, visit ura.uchicago.edu
For patented inventions or inventions with a patent pending: 25% of revenues (e.g., royalties, license fees, stock sales) are paid to inventors. If there is more than one inventor, the revenue is split equally among them unless they agree to an alternative arrangement. In addition, 10% of revenues are paid to the inventors’ lab(s), 5% to their department(s) and 5% to their division(s).
For non-patented inventions (for example, certain software or tangible materials): researchers may elect to not receive a personal share at all, and instead direct 85% of the gross revenues to a University research account, up to a cumulative gross revenue of $500,000. The remainder of the revenues help cover the budget of the Polsky Center, including the costs of obtaining intellectual property.
More details are available in the University’s Revenue Share Policy.
Although there is an obligation to disclose inventions to the Polsky Center, publishing scholarly articles is the best way to disseminate the majority of the work done at the University.
We help investigators with projects that may benefit from a commercial partner. In some cases, obtaining intellectual property protection is necessary to incentivize a partner to commercially develop the technology.
We also advise on the various types of Open Source licenses.
A Material Transfer Agreement (MTA) is a legal agreement entered into by a provider and a recipient of research material for research purposes. Sharing research products (for example, software, cell lines, transgenic animals, and monoclonal antibodies) is critical to continuing progress in science and it is the University’s intention to facilitate material exchange among researchers at different organizations. Such material may have commercial value. To protect this value, and the interests of all parties involved, these transfers are managed using an MTA, which may also be called a Research License. This protects the rights of the different parties with regard to publication, freedom of research, confidentiality, and intellectual property.
The Polsky Center Science and Technology team negotiates and manages outgoing MTAs from the University of Chicago to industry, whether or not the material is being sent for money or for no charge. It is up to the researcher to decide whether to charge a fee. If a fee is charged for a material being sent to industry, under the University’s Revenue Share Policy, contributors to the material may elect to not receive a personal share of the fee, and instead direct 85% of the gross revenues to their research.
More details are available in the University’s Revenue Share Policy. Contact a member of the Polsky Center licensing team at polskylicensing@uchicago.edu if you would like to send materials to a company. University Research Administration (URA) negotiates and manages all other MTAs, including those between academic institutions.
Read more about how to work with URA for incoming MTAs or those with other research institutions.
The Polsky Center has more than two decades’ worth of experience in launching and scaling new startup ventures.
Launching a startup can be an effective way to raise money to develop a technology. The Polsky Center works closely with faculty to help them launch startups that are based on University intellectual property, whether created by internal or external entrepreneurs.