Historically, commercial use of university research has been viewed in terms of spillovers. Recently, there has been a dramatic increase in technology transfer through licensing as universities attempt to appropriate the returns from faculty research. This change has prompted concerns regarding the source of this growth—specifically, whether it suggests a change in the nature of university research. (Thursby 2002) ^ University-based firms are receiving growing interest from policy makers and researchers. Such firms obtain a variety of tangible and intangible resources from their academic partners, and are expected to translate these advantages into substantial gains. (Bonardo 2011) ^Technology transfer is a big concern for universities, how can they identify business opportunities from IP developed? We have created relationships with universities to help them do just that. Contact us to learn more.

Here at IPstreet.com, we want to change the story. In fact, we want to help inventors get beyond (1) conceptualization and through the important stages of (2) gestation, (3) early incubation, and (4) late incubation. To help you and your inventions, we also need to help those who support the invention process: patent attorneys, IP portfolio managers, senior executives, and investors. We believe you are the engine that drives economic development, and the supporting cast fuels the innovation process. In this section, you will learn more about how your inventions can be protected and commercialized. Whether you are a new inventor or are a patenting guru, we hope you will find our resources relevant and practical. Our content is developed by subject matter experts in business and IP law; an uncommon union of PhDs and JDs to help you make sense of the IP landscape in the development of your invention, and its ultimate commercialization.

A plant patent covers asexually reproducible plants (that is, through the use of grafts and cuttings), such as flowers. Sexually reproducible plants (that is, those that use pollination), can be monopolized under the Plant Protection Act. Both sexually and asexually reproducible plants can now also be monopolized by utility patent. Plant patents are comparatively recent innovations, the first one being granted in 1930. A plant patent is granted by the Government to an inventor (or the inventor's heirs or assigns) who has invented or discovered and asexually reproduced a distinct and new variety of plant, other than a tuber propagated plant or a plant found in an uncultivated state. The grant, which lasts for 20 years from the date of filing the application, protects the inventor's right to exclude others from asexually reproducing, selling, or using the plant so reproduced. This protection is limited to a plant in its ordinary meaning: (1) A living plant organism which expresses a set of characteristics determined by its single, genetic makeup or genotype, which can be duplicated through asexual reproduction, but which can not otherwise be "made" or "manufactured." (2) Sports, mutants, hybrids, and transformed plants are comprehended; sports or mutants may be spontaneous or induced. Hybrids may be natural, from a planned breeding program, or somatic in source. While natural plant mutants might have naturally occurred, they must have been discovered in a cultivated area. (3) Algae and macro fungi are regarded as plants, but bacteria are not. A utility patent would be filed for claims to plants, seeds, genes, etc. According to the USPTO, there were 959 plant patent applications filed in 2009.

We are a very young company. Like many entrepreneurial ventures, we are just getting started. We view this initial offering of tools as foundational to providing great service to our customers. But, these tools are just the beginning. We have a product roadmap for IP Street that extends well over the horizon, and we commit to ongoing innovation. Accordingly, we hope to add partners as we continue to develop and add new capabilities and services. If you would like to join us in building a solution that benefits the innovation economy, please become a partner today.