Submit an Invention Disclosure

Overview

Now that you have an idea with the potential to change the world, you need to protect your interests. Submitting an Invention Disclosure, also called a Record of Invention (“ROI”), is the first step in protecting your interests, and the ideal time to do so is before your invention has been published, publicly presented, or discussed outside of UC Davis.

Even before submitting an ROI, our team can discuss any questions you might have and can help assemble a strategy for patenting and commercial partnering.

Submit an ROI

How to Submit an ROI

To submit an ROI, you will need to access our Inventor Portal. The information below provides a guide to accessing our Inventor Portal and submitting an ROI. If you have any questions or experience any issues with the Inventor Portal, please email us for assistance.

Accessing the Inventor Portal

You will access the Inventor Portal using your UC Davis credentials (i.e., the same username and passphrase you use for all other UC Davis accounts). If this is your first time accessing the Inventor Portal, you will create a user profile once authenticated. This will only need to be done once.

1. Navigate to the Inventor Portal web page.
2. Once on that page, click “Log in at UC Davis.” You will now be automatically redirected to log in via the UC Davis Central Authentication Service (“CAS”) web page.
   • If you have previously accessed the Inventor Portal, you will immediately be directed to the Inventor Portal and can submit an ROI.

• • If you have not previously accessed the Inventor Portal, you will be directed to a webpage asking you to enter your UC Davis email address. If your email address is found in our system, your profile page will be displayed allowing you to verify the information in our records. If your email address is not found in our system, you will be asked to provide some information. Once done verifying information or entering in your information, click “Create Account.”

Submitting an ROI

1. Navigate to the Inventor Portal web page.
2. Once logged in, click “Add New Disclosure” on the left-hand side of the page.
3. A pop-up box will appear informing you that a new disclosure is being created. The pop-up box will also require you to enter an invention title and to choose the type of disclosure.
   • In the “Short descriptive title” field, enter a short title that is sufficiently descriptive to identify the general nature of the invention. Four to eight words in length is usually about right.
   • Under the “Choose the Type of Disclosure” dropdown, select “Record of Invention” from the available choices.
   • When finished, click “Create New Disclosure.”
4. Carefully read the information within the “Introduction” area.
5. In the “Inventors” area, list those individuals who contributed either to the conception or reduction to practice of your invention.
   • To include inventors who are UC Davis faculty, staff, and students, click “Add Inventors.” When “Add Inventors” is clicked, a pop-up box will appear where you can search for UC Davis faculty, staff, and students that we currently have in our database.
     • If an individual is listed, click “Choose” under their name.
     • If an individual is not listed after your search, click “Add a new Contact” and fill in the requested information.
     • After adding the individual(s), you can then change their permissions to view or edit the disclosure. Under the “Inventor’s Disclosure Permissions/Access,” you can indicate the permissions you wish the individual to have for the draft ROI. If “Editor” is selected, the individual will have the permission to add, edit, and delete the disclosure. If “View Only” is selected, the individual can only add remarks and view the disclosure.
     • When finished, click “Save Changes” to add the individual(s).

• • To include inventors who are not employed by UC Davis or who have a joint appointment, click “Add Additional Information.” This will allow you to add the inventor’s name, their institution in the appropriate field, and joint appointment percentage, if applicable. When finished, click “Save.” If you need to add more than one inventor who is not employed by UC Davis, click “Add Additional Information” again and a new row will be created. Make sure to click “Save” after each addition.

6. In the first “Invention” area, there are two fields where you will be requested to provide information about your invention.
   • In the first field, provide a brief summary which addresses the essential nature of the invention and which would enable another person working in the field to reproduce the invention. Also, describe the advantages of the invention.
   • In the second field, provide a detailed description of the invention. Point out its novel features. Do not withhold any key elements of the invention, as a complete description is essential to an enforceable patent. Please note that manuscripts can be attached, so please do not copy them here.
7. In the “Documents” area, attach any relevant documents that contain and/or describe the invention, including manuscripts, published papers, grant applications, grant summaries, drawings, and presentations. To attach a document, click “Choose File.” A pop-up box will appear allowing you to choose which document you would like to attach. After choosing the document, click “Open.” Click “Upload Document” to finalize the attachment. You should now see the document listed. If you have multiple documents, this process will need to be repeated for each one individually.
8. In the “Interests” area, you may add key words related to the invention. To add key words, click “Add Interest.” A pop-up box will appear with key words that are already in our database. If a key word is not on the list, click “Add a New Interest” to add one. When finished, click “Add Interest.”
9. In the “OR Annual Report” area, choose the category from the dropdown list that most closely describes the field of your invention.
10. In the “Funding” area, indicate whether funding was used for the invention or project. If funding was used, please list the funding sources by clicking “Add Additional Information.” This will allow you to add the sponsor, grant number, principal investigator, and any comments in the box. When finished, click “Save.” If you need to add more than one funding source, click “Add Additional Information” again and a new row will be created. Make sure to click “Save” after each addition.
    • NOTE: Funding often carries patent obligations, so be sure to include all outside agencies, organizations, or companies that actually provided any expense funding to any inventor for the research that led to the conception or first actual reduction to practice of the invention. Do not list any funding source gratuitously. Failure to provide complete information on funding sources may result in delayed processing of your disclosure and/or difficulty in the University’s fulfilling its legal obligations to research sponsors.
11. In the second “Invention” area, please provide the requested details about the conception of the invention.
12. In the “Public Disclosures” area, indicate whether you have disclosed or plan to disclose the invention to any non-UC personnel.
    • If you indicate that public disclosure was made, please list the public disclosures by clicking “Add Additional Information.” This will allow you to add the type of public disclosure, the audience/location, the date when the disclosure occurred, and to indicate whether any attachments related to this public disclosure are included in the ROI. When finished, click “Save.” If you need to add more than one public disclosure, click “Add Additional Information” again and a new row will be created. Make sure to click “Save” after each addition.
    • If you indicate that you are planning to make a public disclosure, please provide the requested details about the planned disclosure. Also, please list the planned disclosures by clicking “Add Additional Information.” This will allow you to add the type of public disclosure, the audience/location, the date when the disclosure will be made, and to indicate whether any attachments related to this public disclosure are included in the ROI. When finished, click “Save.” If you need to add more than one planned public disclosure, click “Add Additional Information” again and a new row will be created. Make sure to click “Save” after each addition.
13. In the “Third Party Obligations and Other Information” area, indicate whether the invention utilizes data or materials obtained from a third party and whether you know of any references, patent applications, or other publications that may be related to the invention.
    • If the invention does utilize data or materials obtained from a third party, please check all the types of data or material that apply. Also, indicate whether an MTA or other document was put into place to facilitate the transfer of the non-UC material. If so, please indicate the name of the party and attach a copy of the agreement in the “Documents” area of the ROI.
    • If you know of any references, patent applications, or other publications that may be related to the invention, please list the references and attach a copy of the references in the “Documents” area of the ROI.
14. In the “Marketing Targets” area, list any companies or contacts that you believe might be interested in licensing, developing, or otherwise commercializing this invention. To add a company or contact, click “Add Company or Contact.” When “Add Company or Contact” is clicked, a pop-up box will appear where you can search for companies and contacts that we currently have in our database.
    • If the company or contact is listed, click “Choose” under their name. When finished, click “Save Changes” to add the company or contact to the ROI.
    • If the company or contact is not listed, click “Add a new Company” or “Add a new Contact” and fill in the requested information. When finished, click “Save Changes” to add the company or contact to the database. You must also click “Save Changes” again to add the company or contact to the ROI.
15. In the “Remarks” area, include any additional information or questions. Make sure to click “Save Remark” when you are finished.
    • NOTE: You may receive an email confirming the remark was added to the ROI.
16. In the “Subscribers” area, you may add contacts who are not Inventors (e.g., lab managers, assistants, deans, department heads, etc.) that you would like notified by email of events and actions that take place with the ROI. To add a subscriber, click “Add Subscriber.” A pop-up box will appear where you can add the individual’s name and email address. When finished, click “Save Changes.”
17. If you are ready to submit the ROI, click “Submit for Review.” A pop-up box will appear confirming that you would like to submit the ROI. Click “Yes” to proceed. We will then be notified of the submission and will begin our review. It can take thirty days or more for us to conduct a thorough patentability and marketability review.
    • NOTE: Once submitted, the ROI will no longer be editable. If you need more time or would like to come back to the ROI at another time, click “Save As Draft” before exiting. This will save the ROI in your Inventor Portal, and you can come back to it at a later time to submit. You may also download the ROI as a PDF and/or as Word document at any time.

Best Practices for Inventors

Maintenance of good laboratory records is important. Experiments should be written out and explained in a bound notebook. Data may be maintained in separate folders referenced in the laboratory notebook. Pages of the notebook should be dated and signed regularly. It is best if they are also periodically witnessed, signed and dated by a knowledgeable colleague who is not likely to be named as a co-inventor.

Visit G-40, University of California Patent Program, Appendix E, Suggestions for Invention Record Keeping, for more information.

Be Cautious About Disclosures

While discussions within a research group (e.g., within a closed/confidential lab meeting) should not create issues with patentability, “enabling” discussions with others—including departmental seminars, detailed discussions with visitors, presentations at conferences, and any other public/non-confidential disclosures—can be interpreted as public disclosures and can potentially prevent issuance of a patent. The best way to avoid public disclosure is to not discuss your experiments in a manner that others can readily duplicate. If you seek advice from outsiders, then a confidentiality agreement may be needed. In any discussions with representatives from companies, it is always the best practice to have us put a confidentiality agreement in place.

For more information on UC’s Patent Policy please visit: UC Patent Acknowledgement

Submit an ROI

Questions?

If you have any questions or if you need additional information, please contact us.