Office of Commercialization and Industry Collaboration (OCIC)

 

Intellectual Property and the USA Commercialization Roadmap 

The purpose of this seminar is to provide attendees a general overview of intellectual property (IP) and different ways to protect IP. In addition, attendees will learn about the USA Commercialization Roadmap, the University’s formal process for assessing, protecting and commercializing USA owned IP.

Intellectual property is intangible personal property that can be characterized as invention, discovery, know-how, technological development, computer software, or even trade secret. It is protected by copyrights, trademarks and patents and is an asset to its owner. If protected adequately, IP can be managed to benefit the inventors, the owners and the public interest. The Office of Commercialization and Industry Collaboration (OCIC) is responsible for assessing and managing the IP assets of the University, while also serving as the point of contact for industry collaboration partners. The OCIC orchestrates the cooperation between university, industry and government stakeholders to develop inventions into products on the market through a process we call the “USA Commercialization Roadmap”. Participate in the “Intellectual Property and the USA Commercialization Roadmap” seminar to learn more about intellectual property and how you can work with the OCIC to commercialize University IP.

This seminar is available upon request.

 

We Are Innovators: A Guide to the USA Inventor Portal

The purpose of this training session is to teach University personnel on how submit an invention disclosure via the online Inventor Portal. Attendees will learn how to request an account, electronically submit a disclosure and monitor their disclosure’s status.

Is your innovative research generating intellectual property? What is intellectual property? How can I protect the intellectual property generated by my research? How can I commercialize inventions from work I did at USA? The first step is to submit an invention disclosure to the Office of Commercialization and Industry Collaboration (OCIC). To facilitate invention disclosure submission, the OCIC has launched the Inventor Portal. This system replaces the outdated fillable PDF. This new system permits the use of digital signatures and allows you to view and track all the disclosures you have submitted to our office. Participate in the “We Are Innovators:  A Guide to the USA Inventor Portal” training session to learn what the Inventor Portal is and how to use it. We will also provide a brief overview of the USA Commercialization Roadmap, and answer any questions that you have about technology commercialization and industry collaboration.

This training session is available upon request.

 

Critical Concepts You should Know about Intellectual Property

The purpose of this training session is to provide USA personnel a general introduction to the various types of intellectual property (IP) including patents, copyrights, trademarks and trade secrets.

Most people do not know but IP is a "bundle" of rights enshrined in the U.S. Constitution and designed to protect and promote the economic value of sharing new inventions/discoveries and creative writings/designs. This dovetails quite well with the University's mission of generating knowledge for the public good through research. Participate in this training session and gain an understanding of the laws and regulations governing the different types of IP. This session  also provides a walkthrough of the University of South Alabama Patent and Invention Policy. Attend “Critical Concepts You should Know about Intellectual Property” to learn about the power of intellectual property first-hand from a licensed US patent agent.

This training session is available upon request.

 

Copyright This! 

The purpose of this training session is to provide an overview of the laws and regulations governing copyright.

Why should you care about copyright? When you create something, aren't you proud of your work when you spend a lot of time and energy creating it? Copyright is a form of protection given to the authors or creators of "original works of authorship," including literary, dramatic, musical, artistic and other intellectual works. Copyright law gives you a set of rights that prevents other people from copying your work and doing other things with your work that you may not like. This training session dives into various real-world examples of how these laws and regulations affect artists, authors, song writers, and software developers. Attend “Copyright This!” to learn the role copyright plays in a university environment; and, gain an understanding of the University of South Alabama Copyright Policy.

This training session is available upon request.