Can faculty members commercialize their own inventions?

Senators want to know. The discussion was sparked by UH President Greenwood’s mention of the university’s proposal to streamline intellectual property transfers.

The short answer is, intellectual property/inventions discovered or made while on the faculty at UH must be disclosed to the university. If the invention is worthwhile, the university will then file for a provisional patent, and assess the commercial potential for the idea. While that is ongoing, the idea belongs to UH.

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