Patents
Another key avenue to promoting developed technologies is patenting. Patent protection is often needed for an industrial partner to license a newly developed technology and make it commercially available. The patent protection allows them to invest their own capitol in taking the proof-of-concept work, done in the academic lab, and making the method robust and suitable for general use. We work with the Wisconsin Alumni Research Foundation (WARF), a private, nonprofit patent and licensing organization for the University of Wisconsin–Madison. Several patents from the center’s current activities are pending.