Logo for University Technology Licensing ProgramUSC has joined a coalition of leading research universities that aims to boost the transfer of researchers’ patented technologies and inventions to companies.

All told, 15 universities are members of the limited liability corporation University Technology Licensing Program (UTLP): USC, Brown, Caltech, Columbia, Cornell, Harvard, Illinois, Michigan, Northwestern, Penn, Princeton, SUNY Binghamton, UC Berkeley, UCLA and Yale.

UTLP will provide a new marketplace that bundles licensable technologies from multiple institutions so that it is easier for companies to acquire them to expand their portfolio of products.

“A technology transfer that connects USC and other leading research universities to industry is critical to solving some of societies biggest challenges, growing the economy and adding jobs, and securing U.S. technological advantage in competitive global markets,” said Jennifer Dyer, executive director for the USC Stevens Center for Innovation.

The Stevens Center manages intellectual property matters, including patent applications and licenses, for scientists and engineers across USC. Previous university developments in the area of the physical sciences have already generated important patented inventions that have improved lives and enabled new products. UTLP paves the way for continued innovation in the industrial arena.

Dyer said the UTLP and the universities were pleased to have received a favorable business review letter from the U.S. Department of Justice for their new endeavor.

Read the rest of the story on the USC News website.