About the OC
The Office of Commercialization (OC) is a service organization within the HSC, that assists both the university and the faculty in finding commercialization opportunities for innovations arising from research.
As a public institution, The Texas A&M University System requires disclosure of certain developments of all employees so the benefit derived from these developments can be used to further A&M's educational mission. These ideas are formally disclosed to the System office, the Office of Technology Commercialization (OTC) using the Disclosure of Invention form. Once the idea is disclosed to the OTC, the OTC will begin a process to evaluate the idea for its commercial potential. The OC works closely with the OTC in this process for all HSC-related matters.
A primary function of the university is to disseminate new ideas through publications. The OTC works within that function to quickly protect intellectual property (IP) rights before publishing occurs, to maximize the commercial value of the innovation. Surprisingly, "giving an idea to the world" through publishing without first filing patents can often guarantee that the discovery will be ignored by industry.
If you have an idea or a new discovery that you believe could lead to a commercial process or product, please Contact Us for a consultation. We can work with you and develop a strategy for protecting IP rights that does not delay your plans for publication.
For more information, visit the FAQs page on the OTC website.
Important! Please remember that disclosure of your idea to the System does not protect your idea. Only when the OTC has formally evaluated the technology, recommended protection through the filing for patent protection, and filed with the US Patent Office is the idea protected!
