UC's research tiers: Catalysts for academic-corporate collaboration

Standardized agreements help companies connect quickly, seamlessly to top university talent

By Melanie Schefft Email Melanie Email Melanie 513-556-5213

Industry-academic collaborations have long been seen as a win-win-win: companies access top talent for research and development; students gain marketable skills applying classroom learning to practical problems; and faculty gain more opportunities to solve problems that matter.

As a Carnegie Research 1 institution, the University of Cincinnati frequently attracts the attention of Fortune 500 and other prominent companies eager to leverage the university’s faculty and student expertise and state-of-the-art facilities for innovation. Often these collaborations generate new intellectual property (IP). That’s where standardized tiers come into play, said Geoffrey Pinski, assistant vice president for technology transfer in the 1819 Innovation Hub.

How does it work?

As Pinski explained, “The priorities of industry and academia are often very different. To bring the priorities around intellectual property into alignment and streamline the often-arduous negotiations, we developed three industry research tiers. These tiers provide a simple structure and include a pathway for our industry partners to own the intellectual property, often a sticking point in negotiations.”

Tier 1: The non-exclusive royalty-free license (NERF)

• Companies receive a royalty-free, non-exclusive license to the IP, with an option to negotiate exclusively once IP is created.
• No fees or royalties are included.
• Background IP is not included.

Tier 2: The exclusive license with pre-set royalty

For companies yearning for exclusivity and a quick launch, this tier unfurls quickly but ensures an IP position once the project ends.

• The company pays a 10% fee based on the full cost of the sponsored research project (a minimum of $15,000).
• The company then pays 1% royalties on net sales once IP revenue surpasses $20 million.
• Both the company and the principal investigator at UC must agree to this tier.
• Background IP is not included.

Tier 3: Ownership assigned to sponsor

For companies that want any potential IP created during the project assigned to them before the project even begins, this tier locks in those agreements in advance.

• Ownership of any IP created by UC and the university’s interest in any joint project IP are both assigned to the company.
• The company pays an additional fee of 75% of the full cost of the sponsored research project for the assignment of IP.
• Both the company and the principal investigator at UC must agree to this tier.
• No UC background IP may be associated with the project.

“Since launching these tiers, we have seen an uptick in collaborative agreements with top companies,” Pinski said. “By nurturing these partnerships, we are helping to bring more UC-developed innovations into the marketplace.”

Featured image at top: Looking up at modern skyscrapers. Photo/Sean Pollock courtesy of Unsplash

Help for entrepreneurs

UC's Technology Transfer team helps UC faculty and staff commercialize their discoveries and then license the intellectual property to third parties. A searchable database includes hundreds of technologies currently available for licensing — from advanced manufacturing to sensors. Learn more.