OTT's Mission

OTT's mission is to protect, manage, and transfer University of Arizona-owned intellectual property to benefit society, to expand public-private relationships, and to further the University's mission.
 

OTT protects UA intellectual property by:

• soliciting and analyzing invention and copyright disclosures submitted by UA researchers
• determining ownership
• consolidating rights in UA innovations
• perfecting the rights by filing patent applications, and
• registering copyrights

OTT management of intellectual property includes:

• arranging for payment of maintenance fees on issues patents
• working with innovators to disseminate UA intellectual property
• receiving and distributing license revenues
• OTT transfers UA intellectual properties through: 
• exclusive and non-exclusive licenses
• material transfer agreements
• confidential disclosure agreements

University-owned Intellectual Property

The types and boundaries of intellectual property are set by the Arizona Board of Regent's ABOR Policy on Intellectual Property, and by the University of Arizona IP Policy, a specific implementation of ABOR's general policy. Together, these policies call for University ownership of the following types of innovations:
Patents and patentable inventions made by University employees, or by anyone making significant use of UA resources;
Copyrights and works of authorship created by University employees, except those works falling under specific exceptions designed to accommodate long-standing academic traditions on scholarly works;
Tangible research property, such as biological materials and living organisms, chemical substances, prototype instrumentation or devices, and research records and documentation
Proprietary Technical Information, i.e. information that by its nature, or by the choice of the UA researchers who create it, is to be managed as a University asset, for a limited period, before it is published.
 

To Benefit Society

Advances in medicine, agriculture, telecommunications, and law enforcement are a few examples of innovations arising from the University of Arizona and managed by OTT.

To Expand Public-Private Relationships

OTT uses intellectual property-based contractual agreements as a mechanism to create relationships between the University research community and private sector companies, with the expectation that those relationships will expand to additional opportunities for the participating parties.

To Further the University's Mission

OTT responsibilities and activities help accomplish the broader University of Arizona Mission by forming the intellectual property- and research-based relationships that lead to both expanded fundamental understanding and practical use; by teaching for-profit companies and other organizations about promising innovations made by UA researchers; and by serving our faculty and industry partners so that innovations arising throughout the University may be developed and delivered to society.