Resources for Inventors

Why support technology commercialization and start-ups?

Scientific insights and academic breakthroughs advance the state of the field and contribute to the scientific community when published or presented at a scientific meeting. However, without a company willing to invest in bringing the invention to the marketplace, many benefits of these advances can be left unrealized. 

As envisioned by the landmark Bayh-Dole Act, we actively pursue commercialization opportunities while returning income to Virginia Tech inventors and to the university to support its mission. 

To support transition, we identify prospective licensees from large and medium enterprises as well as startup companies. When IP is successfully licensed, compensation collected by VTIP provides funding to the inventors’ departments and schools as well as to the inventors themselves.

Although patentable inventions constitute the majority of our licensing activities, we also handle copyright (software) and tangible research property. Virginia Tech’s IP policy encourages collaboration and disclosure of IP by providing a generous share of licensing revenue to inventors.  Once new ideas are disclosed, the LICENSE and LAUNCH centers are enabled to provide valuable business and technical guidance to inventors seeking to make the most from their ideas.