Protect

Université PSL's commercialization experts can help you identify and protect your results, inventions or valuable knowledge.

Detecting innovation

Think you have an innovation?

Don't hesitate to contact the PSL-Valorisation team or your institution's technology transfer department, who will guide and support you in the transfer of technology and knowledge.

You will be asked to complete an invention declaration describing the results to be protected and promoted, by logging on to the Orbit Invention platform, using the login and password provided by the PSL Valorisation team.

 

Protecting innovation

Would you like to file a patent application for an invention resulting from your research?

We'll work with you to devise the best strategy for protecting your results and transferring them to the socio-economic world, either by setting up a new company or transferring them to an existing one.

For an invention to be patentable, it must meet three criteria:

  • Novelty: the invention must not have been communicated, disclosed or made accessible to the public before the patent application was filed; and
  • Inventive step: the invention must not be obvious from the state of the art; and
  • Industrial application: the invention must be reproducible and likely to have at least one concrete industrial application.

A patent does not preclude publication, but the patent application must be filed before any publication or disclosure.

A patent is a title of ownership that grants a territorial operating monopoly for 20 years.

Adding value is an adventure

Nathalie Rouach et Elena Dossi

 

Nathalie Rouach and Elena Dossi, neurobiologists at the Collège de France, talk about their collaboration with PSL-Valorisation

 


"When we realized the importance of valorizing our recent research work, we contacted PSL Valorisation. Available and attentive, they listened and understood our needs, and encouraged us to go further. They guided us towards declaring our invention and filing a patent. What's more, by following our desire to develop the translational potential of our research, PSL Valorisation put us on the right track for the creation of our future start-up.

They supported us not only with their advice, but also financially, as we won PSL's call for pre-maturation projects. This funding enabled us to launch the first phase of the work that will underpin our future start-up. It's really exciting to be able to put our research to good use! It's a new and rich adventure, and we encourage our colleagues and students to go for it!"

Other forms of protection

While only technical innovations are patented, there are other ways of protecting different types of intellectual property:

  • Trademarks enable you to distinguish your product or service from those of your competitors.It can protect your logo, name, slogan, etc.
  • Software is protected by copyright; it can also be registered with the Agence pour la Protection des Programmes.
  • Designs provide protection for your aesthetic and/or visual innovations.
  • Know-how is protected by secrecy, and can be transferred to an industrial partner
  • The Soleau envelope enables you to date your invention or model with certainty, and to identify yourself as the author.