The Patent Process

Welcome, inventor. We are excited to partner with you to develop your idea.  We invite you to start the Invention Disclosure through our form. But before you start, we recommend you read this page to learn our process.

Important: For your invention to be patentable, it is important not to have made a public disclosure of the invention prior to filling the intellectual property.

Public disclosure is defined as a presentation of the material with enough information that someone reasonably skilled in the art can recreate it. This presentation may have been made in writing, audio, or visual form. If the invention has been made public in any of these formats, rights to patent that piece may be lost.

Table of Contents

Step 1 - Invention Disclosure

The first step is filling the invention disclosure questionnaire.

The  invention disclosure allows the Bioventures team to understand the current status of your invention. For this reason, in addition to details about the technology, the form will ask for your contact information, the sources of funding for the invention, particularly if you have worked with inventors or used resources from other organizations.

Once you have submitted the questionnaire, the Bioventures team will assess the disclosure for completeness and once complete start the technology assessment process.

Step 2 - Technology Assessment Report

Our team will complete aTechnology Assessment Report (TAR) for your invention.  These reports are  a structured summative document regarding your invention. The report will summarize your invention, show a snapshot of closely related inventions, and prepare a preliminary market analysis for technologies related to yours. 

You know your technology better than anyone, so we’ll need your partnership with our team to accurately represent your technology in this report. You will help us understand how this invention fits in your scientific area and the commercial landscape.

After completing the Technology Assessment Report, we will send you a copy so that you can see the information that we have compiled and prepare you to present to the Patent and Copyright Committee.

Step 3 - Technology Assessment Deck Creation

We are scientists, we love to present data.

The slide deck helps us focus the technology assessment report even more and allows us to send the information to individuals in the industry to help us assess the technology.. We work with venture capitalists who see thousands of pitches annually, and the pitch deck format is a standard across the industry.

After that’s completed, we are going to ask you to meet with one of our team members and get ready for a Patent and Copyright Committee presentation.

Step 4 - Patent and Copyright Committee

Once the slide deck is completed, the inventor will meet with one of our team members and get ready for the Patent and Copyright Committee presentation.

The Bioventures team will be the one presenting the technology,  but we believe it is important to connect the inventor with the committee, so that we can ask questions about the science and see your passion for the invention shine.

Step 5 - Determination

After the Patent and Copyright Committee meet, there are three posible outcomes:

  • The invention is outside the scope of what we can do or provide.

In this case, we will return rights to the inventor, and you are free to patent the technology on your own. We can guide you in the process, but the technology is now yours to develop. 

  • Retain rights and encourage further development.

If that is the case. We’re going to advise you on the next milestone for your invention.  Once that milestone is achieved, you will need to update the committee. Once that’s done, the Committee will reconvene and advise you on next steps.

  • Fill a provisional patent application.

A provisional patent protects the invention for one year, allows the inventor to make public  disclosures, and gives time for additional development prior to further patenting decisions. We work with various firms throughout the US and we will connect you with an attorney with special expertise in your specific industry. We will set up a meeting with you and that attorney where they’ll review the materials that we have created at this point, and they are going to work with you to develop  the application. 

Start now

If you have any questions, email bioventures@uams.edu. One of our team members will happily meet with you in-person or virtally and walk you through any questions that you might have. Login in to Sophia Wellspring to start your invention disclosure.