FAQ's for Students
If I have a good idea who do I contact?
What happens next?
Who owns the IP generated by DIT Staff and Students?
How do I know if I have created novel IP?
What is IP disclosure?
What is a patent?
What are the other forms of IP protection?
How would I carry out a patent search?
What should a member of staff, researcher or student do to engage in protecting and commercialising IP?
Can I publish and still patent?
Can I publish after I file a patent?
If I have a good idea who do I contact?
If you have a good idea/invention contact Tom Flanagan DIT Head of Commercialisation tom.flanagan@dit.ie or Andy Gray Senior Licensing Executive andy.gray@dit.ie.
What happens next?
Hothouse (Tom or Andy) will meet with you, and assess the idea/invention. If the idea/invention looks to have commercial potential, we will help you fill out a disclosure form. This helps us to more fully understand the idea/invention and evaluate its commercial merit in more detail.
If after further consideration the idea/invention still looks promising, we will help you to protect and commercialise it i.e. we will help you patent the idea, approach suitable companies on your behalf and work toward securing one or more commercial licenses for your technology.
If not, we will offer advice on what you can do to strengthen the idea/invention and how you might best proceed.
Who owns the IP generated by DIT Staff and Students?
Unlike most other Universities, at DIT you (staff or student) own the IP if you created it. The only exception to this is where 1) there are contracts with sponsors that require IP assignment, 2) DIT Resources were used in the creation of the IP, or 3) administrative materials were developed for DIT.
The creator is therefore free to commercialise his/her IP as they see fit. However, if you decide to come to Hothouse for help, you will have to assign your IP to DIT. This is necessary as DIT must take ownership in order to engage with funding agencies and industry. Don’t worry though. Once DIT owns the IP, we work on your behalf to commercialise the IP and any revenues derived are shared with the creator more favourably than would be the case with most other Universities/Institutions. As the creator, you can also request the return of your IP rights i.e. “re-assignment”, should you wish to do so. Please see our IP policy section for more details.
How do I know if I have created novel IP?
IP is novel if it is not in the public domain i.e. has not previously been revealed publicly. It might involve a product, process, application, or even be software. However, for the IP to be patentable, it must show an inventive step, be non-obvious to somebody knowledgeable in the area and have an industrial application.
If you think you may have created IP, please contact a member of the Hothouse team prior to disclosing it publicly e.g. publishing a paper, presenting a poster, putting it up on a webpage etc. If an idea/invention is not suitably protected before you reveal it publicly, then it will not be patentable.
What is IP disclosure?
Disclosure refers to any public presentation, whether oral or written, including publications, conference abstract and presentations to a group outside the immediate research group.
What is a patent?
A patent is a contract between the inventor of the patented invention and the State, whereby the inventor gets a monopoly from the State for a certain period in return for disclosing full details of the invention. Patents protect the technical and functional aspects of products and processes.
A patent gives the applicant/inventor the right to exclude others from exploiting (making, using, selling, importing) the patented invention except with the consent of the applicant.
- The owner of a patent is any company or body registered as the proprietor. For example if an invention is made by an employee, the employer will typically be the owner/proprietor (unlike many other companies and institutions, this is not the default position at DIT).
- A patent is a form of industrial property that can be bought, sold, licensed or used by the owner.
- A patent lasts for 20 years from the date of filing the application. The Irish patent office also offers short-term patents which are used to protect smaller inventions and may be granted more rapidly however they provide protection for only 10 years.
What are the other forms of IP protection?
Protection of IP can be sought in a variety of ways, including patents, copyright, design rights and trademark. Patenting is the most typical method used in Third Level Institutes. We can advise on the most appropriate means of protection for your IP.
How would I carry out a patent search?
Patent searches can be carried out free of charge on the EPO (European Patent Office) website at http://ep.espacenet.com/ using relevant key words in the searches.
What should a member of staff, researcher or student do to engage in protecting and commercialising IP?
It is very simple; if you think that you have an idea (usually technical) or research results that may have commercial advantage (with or without further development), visit the Hothouse Transfer Technology Office in DIT Aungier Street.
If the research or idea warrants patenting, Hothouse will assist in researching the patent literature for prior art, investigate patent funding possibilities and initiate and progress a commercial development plan with the staff member or student. To fund a patent application, Hothouse typically engages with Enterprise Ireland and relevant Patent Agents, using the Intellectual Property Protection Fund for the Higher Education Sector or its current equivalent.
Can I publish and still patent?
You can publish after you file a patent application. If the content is published to anyone who is not under a non disclosure agreement then it cannot be patented. This means that you cannot share the content with persons outside DIT including external supervisors who are not under a non disclosure agreement or present a poster session, or seminar or at a conference or provide an abstract to a publisher until the filing is done. Typically, filing a patent application takes 4-6 weeks so can easily be done in advance of publishing and does not delay publishing unduly.
Can I publish after I file a patent?
Yes you can publish after you file a patent and reference that a patent is filed. It is important not to publish or disclose additional modifications that you may later want to add to the patent. You can add modifications and enhance the patent filing within the first year.
