Office of Industry and Innovation

After your IP disclosure has been lodged, we will thoroughly assess the commercial prospects of the intellectual property.

Procedure for intellectual property evaluation

1. Our project manager will discuss the project background and potential IP with the researchers involved. Together they will review the IP's competitive position and commercial opportunities, using internal and external information sources.
2. All inventors (having had inventive input into the IP) and collaborators (having made a collaborative contribution but non-inventive input) will be identified and documented. It is critical at this point to identify all non-UWA collaboration or input into the project and the IP.

3. The project manager will work with the researchers to assess commercial potential and prospective routes to market. These are dependent on the:

   • stage of the development;
   • field of research; and
   • potential applications / uses identified.

   It is crucial that the researchers are actively involved in this process. Projects with low commercial potential may be put "on hold" for further research and development, or we may recommend publishing / disclosing the IP.

4. Where non-UWA parties have a claim in relation to the IP, we have the delegated authority to negotiate on all issues regarding the ownership of any share of IP by the third party. Individual researchers cannot agree on the disposition, conditions or income in respect to any IP generated within UWA.
5. The project manager, as part of the project due diligence, will investigate the freedom to operate (including initial patent searches) and will highlight any potential issues of IP ownership with the researchers. This is also done in consultation with the UWA Legal Services Office.