Whenever researchers are involved in a patent application, they may not be familiar with the procedure and the dissemination requirements. As a consequence, they should be informed about those requirements in a systematic way in order to prevent any disclosure that would invalidate the patentability of the invention. A technology transfer office can provide this information via a letter sent to every inventor, advising them to get in touch with technology transfer officers to define the appropriate communication strategy. The template, which can easily be used or adapted by technology transfer offices according to the needs, can be found below. www.FITT-for-Innovation.eu

1. Recommendation Letter for Inventors
FITT
– Fostering Interregional Exchange in ICT Technology Transfer –
www.FITT-for-Innovation.eu
Except where otherwise noted, this work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 License.

2. Case : Recommendation Letter for Inventors
• The technology transfer office of Paris-Sud XI university sends a letter to inventors
involved in a patent application to:
• inform them systematically on the status of the procedure at a specific
moment (authorisation to disclose)
• invite them to get in touch with the technology transfer officers prior to any
publication
• Generic case : the template of this letter can be used by other technology transfer
offices. Simple procedure to set up.
• This letter clarifies the steps and terms related to the patent application, which the
researchers may not be familiar with. It enhances the importance of building up a
strategy with regard to dissemination & publication of the invention, in collaboration
with the TT office.
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2 | March 2011 Name / Event
Recommendation Letter for Inventors

3. Content of the letter
Sender : technology transfer office of the university
Contact name : technology transfer officier in charge of the invention
Recipient : inventor
Reference number of the invention
Indication on the status of the patent application and
recommandation on communication strategy:
“[Patent Attorney] has just sent us the authorisation to disclose and
exploit the patent application mentioned in the heading. Please find attached a
copy of the document.
The authorisation to disclose and exploit should not be confused with
the official publication of the patent application, which will take place 18
months after the date on which it was lodged. Until then, you may maintain
secrecy over the existence and content of the patent application.
However, if you wish to communicate on your invention, we would
remind you that it is essential to keep to the contents of the patent application as
it was lodged and not to disclose any information not mentioned in this
document. This would prevent us from protecting this information at a later
date. We would advise you to contact us to discuss what sort of communication
strategy would be most appropriate to your project.
Until that date, you have the option to maintain secrecy over the
existence and content of the patent application [...]”
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3 | March 2011 Name / Event
Recommendation Letter for Inventors

4. A specific moment in the patent application
process
Letter to
inventor
Priority
Initial
application
application
0 5 months 12 months 18 months 24 to 36 months
Disclosure Publication of the
Authorisation Registration
application
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Recommendation Letter for Inventors

5. Suggested Readings
 Links to code book
Inventor, Patent, Guideline, Invention disclosure
 Link to related websites
Technology Transfer Office of Paris-Sud XI University :
http://www.u-psud.fr/fr/l_universite/organisation_generale/services_communs/saic.html
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5 | March 2011 Name / Event
Recommendation Letter for Inventors