Commercialization Policy

The University of Western Ontario seeks to commercialize the results of its research in such a manner as to:

  • Provide benefit to Ontario provincially;
  • Provide benefits to Canada nationally;
  • Engage with our local economic and innovative ecosystem in the City of London;
  • Enrich and enhance the lives of Canadians;
  • Reward our inventors for their creativity;
  • Stimulate our students and postdoctoral fellows through consistent educational programming and in such a manner as to encourage and incentivize entrepreneurship;
  • Secure a financial advantage for the institution to supplement our schools, units, and departments; and
  • Maintain mutually beneficial relationships with our sponsors, partners, licensees, and receptors.

With those mentioned above as our guiding principle and banner, specifically, Western’s policy framework on commercialization is as follows:

 COMMITMENT TO THE MANAGEMENT AND PROTECTION OF IP

The institution’s commitment to the management and protection of IP in a manner that maximizes knowledge mobilization and transfer as well as commercialization opportunities to the benefit of the public and economy is outlined in the Procedures for Commercialization of Intellectual Property (Procedure for MAPP Policy 7.16 – Intellectual Property)

1.0 By University

1.1 Creator(s) may assign their rights in any Creator-owned Intellectual Property to the University if the Creator(s) of said Intellectual Property wish for the University to take full responsibility for the legal protection and/or commercialization of said Intellectual Property and if the University desires assignment. The University reserves the right to conduct any prudent assessment, commercial or otherwise, of the Intellectual Property before deciding whether to accept the assignment.

1.2 Where the University owns or has been assigned rights in Intellectual Property, it will consider assigning or reassigning those rights to the Creator(s), provided it is satisfied that doing so is in the best interests of the University and the Creator(s).

1.3 Net Revenue will be shared between the University and the Intellectual Property Creator(s) according to the following mechanism:

  1. Any Net Revenue from licensing of non-copyright material (including software) will be shared equally between the University and the Intellectual Property Creator(s).
  2. Any Net Revenue from licensing of copyright material (excluding software) will be shared as agreed upon between the University and the Intellectual Property Creator(s)
  3. Any Net Revenue from the equity in a spin-off company will be shared equally between the University and the Intellectual Property Creator(s).

2.0 By Creator

2.1 Prior to assignment to the University or after reassignment from the University, a Creator may elect to proceed with the commercialization of Creator-owned Intellectual Property at their own expense.

2.2 Net Revenue will be shared between the University and the Intellectual Property Creator(s) according to the following mechanism:

  1. Any Net Revenue from licensing non-copyright material or equity in a spin-off company will be shared 85% to the Intellectual Property Creator(s) and 15% to the University.
  2. Any Net Revenue from licensing of software will be shared 93% to the Intellectual Property Creator(s) and 7% to the University unless said software was not created with significant use of University resources, in which case Net Revenue will be shared 97% to the Intellectual Property Creator(s) and 3% to the University.

 DEFINED ROLES AND RESPONSIBILITIES

WORLDiscoveries (Technology Transfer Office, TTO)

Successful commercialization of technologies is achieved through a productive partnership between WD and the inventor group. Our 6-step process of commercialization is designed to define the role of all stakeholders to fulfill our commitment to the successful commercialization of research-based inventions.

If the invention has been identified as suitable for commercialization, a legal document will be signed to establish the working relationship between the inventor and the institution. In this relationship, our commitment is to protect the IP and search for appropriate partners with the necessary expertise, resources, and business networks to push the technology toward additional development on the commercialization pathway.

Researcher

Must complete an Invention Disclosure Form whenever they have discovered something unique with possible commercial value. Support the IP protection process by engaging in discussions with patent agents and reviewing the patent drafts and office actions. Engage in the marketing efforts of WD by responding to industry questions and being available for meetings, and presenting technical data to the potential receptors.

The most successful technology transfer results are obtained when the inventor and the professional licensing work together as a team to market and promote the use of the technology.

III. INCREASE IP CAPACITY THROUGH IP EDUCATION AND AWARENESS RESOURCES

WORLDiscoveries offers a series of instructional programming that spans basic to advanced IP and commercialization education components. These programs run the spectrum of webinars, workshops, experiential learning, shadowing, networking, and hands-on project-based teamwork opportunities to target various campus stakeholders. For more details on these programs, click on the links below:

and The Vanguard Awards, organized by WORLDiscoveries, celebrate exceptional achievements in technology and research, recognizing community members who have demonstrated outstanding innovation and entrepreneurial spirit.


INVENTION DISCLOSURE POLICY

The invention disclosure policies that guide WD’s activities with respect to IP protection and commercialization opportunities can be found in the following links.

 NET BENEFIT TO ONTARIANS

The commercialization activities of WORLDiscoveries (WD) are based on guiding principles of net benefit to Ontario, Canada, and global citizenship. Faculty, staff, or students should disclose an invention to WD if they believe their research could be commercialized for public use and benefit. Inventions from academia are typically in the early stages of development and require significant investment before bringing a product to market. Intellectual property protection often provides the necessary incentive for a company to pursue such a project.

WD will assess whether to begin the legal protection process and work to identify outside development partners. In commercializing technologies with a net benefit to Ontario and Canada, the following framework is considered:

a. Providing non-commercial license for research purposes

b. Knowledge mobilization

c. Ontario-based investment and growth

 GUIDANCE FOR RELEVANT STAKEHOLDERS REGARDING INSTITUTIONAL ENGAGEMENT WITH THE INNOVATION ECOSYSTEM

Partnering enables us to leverage expertise and resources that complement our mandate and achieve a higher level of impact. WD Works with its partners and collaborators to accelerate commercialization by connecting the institution with various organizations within the region to broaden the entrepreneurial ecosystem for our faculty, staff and students.

1.0 Government – Provincial and Federal

Federally, we support our innovators in their research applications for standard tri-council and other funding sources as required, along with any applications for funding that supports technology development and commercialization, including NSERC-I2I, NSERC-Lab2Market; and NSERC-Alliance; CIHR-project grant (commercialization stream), and NRC-IRAP. In addition, we ensure our innovators connect with any relevant Federal programs through Innovative Solutions Canada or other programs (Mitacs, FedDev, Trade Commissioner Services, etc.).

Provincially, we support our innovator’s applications where appropriate to the Ontario Research Fund, Ontario Centre of Innovation (OCI), Ontario Brain Institute (OBI), Ontario Genomics, CCRM, CDRD, CIMTEC and FACIT (OICR).

2.0 Regional Entrepreneurship organization

Our partners include BioNext, Western’s new MedTech Incubator, Western Morrisette Entrepreneurship (startup incubator and programming), The Western Research Parks, Tech-Alliance London’s regional innovation centre and the London Economic Development Corporation (LEDC).

In addition, we support our innovator’s interactions with other members of the regional innovation ecosystem and incubators (e.g., Velocity – Waterloo, MIX – Waterloo, Synapse – Hamilton, CDL – UToronto, H2i – UToronto, DMZ – Ryerson University, Forest City Synbio – London and OBIO), and funders (SWO-Angels, Equation Angels, Keiretsu Forum, along with the regional venture capital organizations).

ecommCommercialization Policy