Technology Transfer Office

Moving creativity that is defined as Intellectual Property (IP) from SDSU and the SDSU Research Foundation into the public marketplace is the mission of the Technology Transfer Office (TTO).

New knowledge in the form of inventions, devices, designs, procedures and remedies as well as copyrightable work such as textbooks, software, multimedia audiovisual works, new methods of teaching and other types of work is referred to as intellectual property (IP). The faculty, staff and students of San Diego State University as part of their academic mission, produce intellectual property.

Prior to 1980 much of the intellectual property that had been funded through NSF or NIH and other granting agencies remained at the university level and was not actively commercialized. In 1980, Congress passed the Bayh-Dole Act. This, with several related laws passed subsequently, provided universities with both the incentive and the responsibility to promote and manage their intellectual property. Technology transfer offices were created on university campuses across the country to bring these new opportunities to market for the greater good of the public. San Diego State University and the San Diego State University Research Foundation in 1998 created the Technology Transfer Office to commercialize its intellectual property.

The TTO helps identify academic projects with commercial value. It then works to protect, develop, market and license the intellectual property rights. An important function of the Office is to encourage embryonic technologies or other creative works and transform them into useful "products" and, in some cases, new businesses.

Confidential disclosure agreements, patents or copyright agreements protect the creator and his/her creativity during the development stage. To bring the product to market requires a number of stages including market research, commercial application and product assessment, review of the competition, and search for manufacturers, licensees, and distributors.

For faculty who want to start their own business, the TTO facilitates the new business venture (NBV), licensing the technology to the NBV, structuring a working relationship between the NBV and SDSU.

Simply put, the TTO is in the business of encouraging creativity and building relationships to enhance the life of SDSU and the general public. By doing so, resources for continued research and the infusion of money into projects and colleges develop that intellectual property into valuable benefits for us all.