Home > Investigators > Agreements > Licensing

Many licenses of MGH inventions, other intellectual property, and tangible research properties such as biological materials, arise out of both industry- and government-sponsored research. In some case, the inventor/investigator is approached by a company as a result of a presentation or publication describing the invention. In other cases, after an invention disclosure is made to CSRL, the investigator and/or the CSRL staff may identify prospective licensees from their industrial contacts.

Most Hospital inventions are licenses at an early stage of the research. Industrial licensees, therefore, often agree to sponsor additional research pertaining to the licensed invention in the inventor/investigator's laboratory. Thus, the license frequently becomes the vehicle for industry sponsored research.

Companies usually are not interested in licensing inventions that have not been, or cannot be, protected by patents. In order to secure patent protection and facilitate licensing, it is important for investigators to disclose their inventions to CSRL before presenting them to parties outside the Hospital. (For information about invention disclosures and the process for obtaining patent protection, see Protecting Inventions Made).

In most cases, before an investigator discusses a potentially patentable discovery with representatives of a company, it will be advisable to request the company to sign a Confidentiality Agreement.

If you are interested in exploring licensing arrangements for an invention you have made, contact the Office of Corporate Sponsored Research and Licensing for assistance.