Technology Transfer

The Technology Transfer Office (TTO) provides support for the identification, protection, valorization, and transfer of inventions and know-how developed by researchers and healthcare professionals at the Policlinico.

The protection of intellectual property serves a dual purpose: to safeguard the outcomes of innovative translational research and to provide a mechanism for sharing and developing inventions in partnership with companies or other research institutions.

The strategy for valorizing scientific knowledge is not measured by the number of protected outputs, but rather by the assessment of their potential for technology transfer. By offering protection in exchange for disclosure, the patent system incentivizes investment in research and development, while ensuring society gains immediate access to innovations in the medical and scientific fields.

The TTO actively promotes awareness of patenting opportunities from the very beginning of research activities, rather than waiting until their conclusion. Strengthening the quality of commissioned research relationships encourages the filing of new patent applications, often in co-ownership with the partner company.

• Scouting: collection of researchers’ inventive proposals and assessment of their feasibility.

• Patenting: protection of inventions through the filing of patent/trademark/copyright applications; coordination between patent attorneys and inventors in drafting the patent application; management of the patent process through to patent grant.

• Transferring: management of contacts with companies; negotiation and drafting of technology transfer agreements and sponsored research contracts.

• Spin-offs: assessment of feasibility and management of procedures for spin-off company creation.

• Educational: organization of seminars and training courses on intellectual property.