Licensing change could bene?t researchers

After years of toiling in the lab, UNC researchers have developed a formula that will stimulate growth and development.

But it’s not a chemical mixture or a new technology.

It’s a business plan.

University inventors should now be able to launch startup companies based on their innovations at a faster speed thanks to the Carolina Express License Agreement created by the Office of Technology Development.

Although the University could profit less from each new company formed with the agreement, UNC could also boost its reputation from the creation of more companies.

Licensing allows inventors to market their creations to companies or create businesses around their research, said Cathy Innes, director of the Office of Technology Development.

Normally, the process of creating licensing contracts between the researcher and UNC can take three to nine months.

“Doing the license agreement takes a lot of time because you have two parties who have two different goals,” Innes said. The process pits the University against the faculty member over issues of financial compensation and property rights.

“It can be a very slow and burdensome process,” Innes said. “We want to make that process faster and more efficient.”

The new agreement takes away that traditional contract negotiation by establishing a non-negotiable set of financial and business terms that inventors can agree to. Because there is no negotiation, faculty members can create startup companies faster and easier — ideally reaching a licensing agreement in about a month.

The University has already agreed to the new terms, which were established to be generous to the inventor, Innes said.

“Our objective is not to maximize cash to the University, but to maximize the number of companies to come out of the University,” she said.

“Our objective is to get companies started, foster economic development in North Carolina. We’re not chasing money.”

She said that if the goal was to increase revenue to the University, the model used would be different and would focus on only the few most viable company propositions. Instead, this agreement seeks to generate many companies, some of which might be unsuccessful.

Joseph DeSimone, a professor of chemistry, said the agreement will eliminate barriers that discourage the growth of companies.

“The companies are being launched by the faculty and their students, and all of the sudden there have to be negotiations, and it has to be us against them, faculty against the University,” DeSimone said. “You often had inexperienced people on both sides of the table entering into negotiations that often become contentious.”

In 2004, DeSimone founded Liquidia Technologies based on his innovations and research in the realm of particle-based vaccines. He said the traditional process can take several months and often is too burdensome for some people starting companies.

“Getting a license is like .001 percent of what you need to do,” DeSimone said. “If it’s going to take three to nine months, it’s going to be a deal-killer.”

Before companies can go through the licensing process, they must submit a business plan to the University for approval.

“We have two or three companies who are going through the business plan review process, and we hope to have our first company signed at the end of January,” Innes said. “I have 19 companies we are working with that are in the various stages of starting. What we’re really trying to do is make the process faster and easier for everybody.”



Contact the University Editor at udesk@unc.edu.