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What if I want to publish my invention?
The Office of Technology Commercialization (OTC) highly encourages publication and disclosure of your invention. This greatly assists licensing efforts by alerting companies to interesting and new technologies. However, the timing of such publication or disclosure is critical.
In most foreign jurisdictions, if an invention is published BEFORE a patent is on file, all rights to obtain a patent to that technology are lost. In the US, there is a one-year grace period to file for a patent after the first disclosure.
For patenting purposes, a technology is disclosed once information about your invention is shared with a person not employed by MD Anderson and not required to keep such information confidential, and such information would enable one of skill in the art to practice the invention. Accordingly, a disclosure could occur within MD Anderson if the person to whom such information is disclosed is not an MD Anderson employee. Note: presentations at Grand Rounds, professional meetings and the like, will most likely constitute a disclosure. Confidential submissions for grant and publication review are typically not considered a disclosure, BUT will be upon public announcement of the grant or publication on the Internet or otherwise.
Accordingly, please file an IDR with OTC well in advance of any publication, presentation or disclosure. OTC will then work with you to ensure that a patent is on file as close as possible but prior to any disclosure to protect patentability.