University of Pretoria
The University of Pretoria’s Technology Transfer Office (UP TTO) was established in 2009 following the promulgation of the Intellectual Property Rights from Publicly Financed Research and Development Act, Act No. 51 of 2008 (the IPR Act). Since its establishment, the UP TTO has been striving to build a culture of innovation and technology transfer for the high-quality research capabilities of UP’s researchers, and has delivered value to its many stakeholders.
The UP TTO is also responsible for the implementation of UP’s Intellectual Property (IP) Policy. This policy deals with the ownership, benefit sharing and commercial exploitation of IP developed by students, staff, and other parties associated with the University. According to this policy, the UP TTO, all academic research managers, staff members, students, and the Department of Research and Innovation are responsible for identifying and disclosing IP created within the UP environment with a view to its exploitation through the UP TTO and in partnership with the inventor/s to the benefit of UP, its students, staff members and society.
This identification is formally captured by means of a written invention disclosure to the UP TTO by staff and/or student inventors. The University’s IP Policy provides that: “The full invention disclosure must be made to the UP TTO as soon as possible after a new and potentially useful product or process has been conceptualised, or a new plant variety has been developed, or when an unusual, unexpected or non-obvious research result, which has the potential of being commercially or otherwise applied, is obtained.” This ensures the maximal utilisation of new IP and avoids unnecessary delays in the publication of research findings.
In terms of the utilisation of inventions, the UP TTO assists UP staff and students with the following activities:
- Receiving and processing invention disclosures
- Conducting preliminary IP due diligence geared at establishing the patentability of the disclosed inventions
- Conducting market analysis of UP’s inventions
- Undertaking preliminary patenting
- Protecting UP’s intellectual property
- Commercialising UP’s intellectual property