Utrecht Holdings helps to determine whether your invention is patentable. We also file the patent, together with the inventors.
A patent is a strong, clear form of ownership for new work. It lets you stop others from copying your invention without permission.
Utrecht Holdings hires patent attorneys to write, file, and maintain the patent case. Because the costs are high, we first determine the potential impact of your invention (See Plan for Impact).
During the patent proceedings the national Patent Offices will individually determine the scope of the claims to be granted for that specific country. This is called examination and focuses on the three criteria for patentability:
Novelty
The work in the patent must not have been made known in any way before the day of filing.Note: It is critical you reach out to us before publishing your invention. Any publication that discloses your invention is considered Prior Art and makes it impossible to obtain a patent.
Inventive Step
The claimed invention should contain an inventive step, meaning the invention should not be obvious to researchers working in the same field.
Industrial Applicability
The invention should be makeable as a product in the way it was claimed. We need to provide data and examples to show how the invention would look and work.
If all three aspects are a go, it is possible to obtain a patent.
Even if your invention is patentable, we must evaluate whether the potential benefit outweighs the costs of a patent. Do we expect a return? For a cost estimation, see the FAQ below.
Typically, yes. Investors will only invest millions of euros in the commercialization of an invention if there is protection against competitors trying to achieve the same goal.
That said, there are other ways to protect an invention. You may choose not to disclose your confidential information; or perhaps your input data is unique and cannot be replicated easily.
Utrecht University and UMC Utrecht own the patent rights to research work performed by employed staff members.
Note that students are not employed and own the rights to the results of their graduation projects, unless agreed upon otherwise with the institution.
Utrecht Holdings and the research department where the invention originated each pay half of the patent costs. This is a non-negotiable institution-wide policy. Please do check within your department if you have the funds available.
Writing and filing a patent costs roughly €15.000. In the first 2,5 years the total costs may add up to around €25.000. This is an average estimate, as the cost strongly depends on geographical focus. After 2,5 years the patent maintenance fees increase significantly. If at that point there are no foreseen revenues from a patent, we typically choose to no longer pay the fees and then the patent validity expires.
Income generated by a patent is distributed as follows:
Only people who played a key part in the Inventive Step are listed as inventors. They each should have a clear intellectual contribution. Note that this may be different from who is considered as an author on a related scientific publication.
Freedom to Operate means you are allowed to commercialize an invention without infringing on existing intellectual property rights (owned by others). You cannot commercialize your invention without it. Note that this is different from patentability.