Are patents pursued for all inventions?
At times, OTD may conclude that the cost of pursuing a patent application is not justified. OTD may also decide not to pursue patenting when there is extensive prior art, the resulting patent protection would be narrow, enforcement of the patent would difficult, or the relevant industry is unlikely to be receptive to licensing. In those cases, rights to sponsored inventions are handled according to the provisions of the sponsored agreement (e.g., for government sponsored inventions, rights are returned to the government). Alternatively, if the inventor is interested in developing and commercializing the technology, OTD may consider releasing the invention to the inventors or to license the invention to an inventor or inventors on reasonable terms and conditions.
