Dear all,

As some of you may know, there was a recent change in the Office of Technology Transfer with the departure of Jennifer Murphy. There is a new director of  Innovation and Intellectual Property. Her name is Veronica Kayne ([log in to unmask]). With the change in leadership there is a change in paradigm. Mason used to spend $360K/year to file and prosecute patents and the corresponding revenue stream from licensing was on the order of $20K. The new model will emphasize monetization of inventions. Here is in a nutshell what will happen from now on:

1. OTT will continue to file provisional patent applications. These are relatively cheap.

2. Before the final application is filed (this is more expensive), a significant vetting process will take place to determine if it is worthwhile to spend the money to file and prosecute the patent. OTT wants to use a group of entrepreneurs, law firms in the intellectual property space, faculty advisors, and the inventors to do the proper evaluation before a final decision is made.

3. OTT will also be using the services of law firms that will be compensated on a success basis to sue for patent infringement when appropriate.

Danny