From ideation to invention to innovation.
From the bench to the assembly line to the shelf.
The Office of Entrepreneurship and Innovation Partnerships focuses on patenting, marketing and licensing patented inventions, and to a lesser extent copyrighted software and other works. It also pairs faculty expertise with company technology needs, entrepreneurs and investors, and offers consultation and guidance to faculty, staff and students interested in starting their own businesses.
Intellectual property is a creation of the mind. Similar to real or personal property, intellectual property can be legally protected under various federal and state statutes; it is, however, an intangible asset. Research universities are intellectual property dynamos that play an ever-increasing role in the knowledge economy our country and state are promoting.
Universities have historically created knowledge in labs, test-beds and greenhouses, and disseminated it broadly in the classroom, in publications, in graduating students and via agricultural and engineering extension services and research consortia. Technology is a part of knowledge and, as such, technology transfer is an externality associated with our core research, teaching and service missions. Under certain conditions, university technology transfer offices seek to license legally protected inventions as an alternative to dedicating them gratis to the public. The objective of licensing is to spawn wealth, jobs, sponsored research and economic development opportunities for the University, inventors, our community, our state, the nation and beyond. The most common forms of intellectual property rights created by faculty and protected by the institution are patents and copyrighted works.
Areas of expert advice and assistance available to the Binghamton University community include:
- Patent filing and management
- Marketing and licensing of inventions
- Copyright
- Confidential and material transfers
- Technology-based business start-up strategies
- SBIR/STTR program
- Entrepreneur Match program
- Pre-Seed Workshop program
- Facilitation of industry partnerships
The Office of Entrepreneurship and Innovation Partnerships also administers the Innovative Technologies Complex Start-Up Suite, which provides low-cost space and business support services to enterprises with roots in faculty research.
