How does technology transfer work at the FLI?

Publication Screening

The FLI´s publication rules stipulate publication screening to identify inventions as well as valuable material and know-how prior to their disclosure. Thus, a strategic plan for obtaining property rights can be established before the invention becomes no longer patentable due to prior publication.

Invention disclosure

The FLI aims to honor inventive achievements and guarantee transparent handling and appropriate remuneration according to the German Employee Inventions Act. Each employee is legally obliged to disclose his inventions to his employer.

Claiming/release of inventions

By claiming an invention, the employer becomes holder of the IP right and is therefore exclusively eligible to submit a patent application. In the event that the employer releases the invention, the inventor has sole rights of disposal, provided no other agreement was made.

Patenting

The patent application is carried out by an experienced patent attorney, authorized by the FLI. The patent attorney is responsible for the correspondence with the patent offices and accompanies the FLI through the examination procedure.

Material Transfer Agreement

The exchange of materials (e.g. cell lines, plasmids, antibodies) between research groups (academic or industrial) is a necessary and important part of research activities and should therefore be carried out as quickly and smoothly as possible. All relevant aspects of such transfers are settled in a Material Transfer Agreement (MTA) between the corresponding partners.

Confidentiality Disclosure Agreement

Scientists rely on the exchange of data in their research projects. To avoid the transfer of data that might be patentable but are not yet protected, exchanges should only take place after closure of a Confidentiality Disclosure Agreement (CDA) or a Non-Disclosure Agreement (NDA).

Cooperation Agreement

The FLI enters cooperation agreements with both academic and industrial partners. Cooperation with industrial

partners are particularly valuable in the development of application-oriented technologies. However, academic cooperation, for example European joint research projects in the EU framework program, can also result in valuable IP.

FLI Core Facility Technology Transfer

The CF Technology Transfer supports early stage academic inventions with education, mentorship and funding. It is based on the highly successful SPARK program developed at Stanford University, which has achieved a translational success rate of more than 50%.

The Core Facility helps de-risk projects addressing critical unmet medical needs for any medical indication with the goal to identify and utilize potential new targets for novel therapeutic biomedical interventions, ultimately aiming at the development of novel therapeutic concepts for age-related diseases.

Spin-offs

Founding a new company (spin-off) is an alternative option for the exploitation of technologies developed at FLI and enables the transfer of research and development results into marketable products and services. In addition, spinoffs can apply research and development results to areas that are no longer pursued by the FLI.

This may be realized within the framework of strategic partnerships, where appropriate. Moreover, spin-offs offer FLI employees a route to an independent entrepreneurial future. At the same time they create jobs in technology-oriented and skill-intensive fields that are of particular importance to the future of science and industry in Germany.