Been lusting after one of those gold-plated energy patents from the National Laboratories? But you just couldn't come up with the tens of thousands of dollars required to get your foot in the door. Or perhaps the mountain of paperwork and the prospect of negotiating individual licensing agreements, stood in your way.
Welcome to the 'America's Next Top Energy Innovator'. It's goal is to eliminate these barriers for Start-up Companies, giving them the opportunity to license groundbreaking technologies, developed by the 17 DOE National Laboratories. It aims to do this by offering patents for a fraction of the cost and minimal paperwork.
Tuesday, March 29th, on its third stop of an eight-city tour, a bevy of White House officials, including Secretary of Energy Steven Chu and Karen G. Mills (head of the Small Business Administration), launched the program at a forum held at MIT. The forum is part of administration's 'Startup America' initiative, itself launched in January to promote entrepreneurship.
From May to mid-December, for a cost of $1000, energy entrepreneurs will be able to license up to three of the National Laboratories patents. Companies will be able to apply for those patents using a simplified, standard agreement, available online.
"Getting patents into the hands of small businesses is a good way to start", said Bill Aulet, managing director of the MIT Entrepreneurship Center. "The Energy Department initiative is long overdue. An invention needs someone to commercialize it to make it an innovation. You need that engine of propulsion: the entrepreneur."
The 17 National Laboratories in the U.S., among them the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL), the Argonne National Lab, Lawrence Livermore National Lab, and Los Alamos National Lab, hold a total of 15,000 patents. Only 10% of all federal patents have been licensed for commercialization. This initiative aims to double the number of startup companies coming out of the national laboratories.
Specifically, as part of "America's Next Top Energy Innovator:"
On Monday, May 2, 2011, the Department will kick off the challenge by posting a streamlined template option agreement online for entrepreneurs to submit to Laboratories. Entrepreneurs have until December 15, to identify the technology of interest and submit a business plan.From May 2 to December 15, the Department will reduce the total upfront cost of licensing DOE patents in a specific technology to a $1,000 upfront fee for portfolios of up to three patents. This represents a savings of $10,000 to $50,000 on average in upfront fee
Other license terms, such as equity and royalties, will be negotiated on a case by case basis and will typically be due once the company grows and achieves wide scale commercial succes
The Department will simplify the licensing process and establish a standard set of terms for start-ups, who generally lack the resources, time, or expertise to negotiate individual licensing agreements.
The upfront payment required to cover the first 90 days of research work will be reduced to 60 days. This change will benefit all companies, not just start-ups
Thousands of patents and patent applications:
Recently, the EERE and NREL developed and launched the EERE Energy Innovation Portal, an online tool initially created by NREL for DOE. It provides businesses and entrepreneurs access to the thought leadership of all 17 DOE national laboratories. The portal contains a centralized database of energy efficiency and renewable energy intellectual property, including more than 15,000 searchable DOE patented technologies. It also provides more than 300 business-friendly market summaries for technologies throughout the national labs.It's easy to use, and it's free. Users simply point and click to find out more about a technology or to connect with a licensing professional at the appropriate laboratory to talk about accessing these technologies.
Justin Ashton, cofounder of XL Hybrids Inc. in Somerville, agreed that simplifying the processto obtain patents is a necessary step.
"If you’re an entrepreneur, you’re used to hearing a million nos for every yes", he saidSeveral years ago, Ashton’s start-up, NanoPur, died after it failed to get a license from Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory in California for technology that would have dramatically cut the energy required to turn saltwater into fresh water.