Promoting Easy Intellectual Property Access via the CPES Intellectual Property Protection Fund (IPPF)

The CPES industrial consortium is organized with a tiered membership structure. It comprises a network of roughly 80 member firms of varying sizes and interests. Within the consortium, the Principal Members grade is granted access to the Center’s intellectual properties. The intellectual property (IP) protection process usually starts with member companies reviewing CPES-generated invention disclosures and evaluating their interest for IP protection. This process, however, has proven to be too cumbersome and inefficient in the past. As the Center’s researchers generate 15-20 invention disclosures per year, industry is unable to keep pace in making timely decisions as well as having to consider additional financial support for patent filing. To remedy this situation, CPES recently implemented the Intellectual Property Protection Fund (IPPF), a groundbreaking IP access and protection plan. The plan offers the option for the Principal Member grade of consortium members to join the IPPF pool by making an additional contribution of $5,000 per year. On a quarterly basis, IPPF members meet via teleconference with CPES inventors to discuss the technical merits and jointly decide on patent protection. The costs for these patent filings are covered by IPPF. Once a technology is protected, IPPF members are granted a royalty-free, non-exclusive, non-transferable license to use the technology. After one year’s existence, IPPF has attracted 11 member firms, with an annual pool of $55,000 for IP protection. Not only has this mechanism greatly enhanced IP benefits for Principal Members, it has also allowed CPES researchers to publish their technological breakthroughs without delay.