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The MIT Technology Licensing Office ("MIT TLO") helps move innovations and discoveries from the lab to the marketplace for the benefit of the public and to amplify the Massachusetts Institute of Technology's (MIT) global impact. The MIT TLO supports scientific and entrepreneurial excellence and helps connect MIT's research community to industry and start-ups by strategically evaluating, protecting, and licensing technology. MIT TLO is also responsible for coordinating, reviewing, and approving MIT’s "use of name" and trademark requests.
MIT TLO is located on the campus of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) in Cambridge, Massachusetts, and the executive director is Lesley Millar-Nicholson.
Say Hello to the TLO (July 2017)
MIT faculty, staff, and students are encouraged to disclose an invention to the MIT TLO if they believe their research could be commercialized for public use and benefit. Inventions from academia are typically in the very early stages of development and require significant investment to bring a product to market, and companies and investors value the intellectual property protection the MIT TLO can provide.
If government funds are used for research at MIT, the researcher(s) is required to file a prompt technology disclosure, which will be reported to the sponsoring agency. Similar requirements may exist for other sponsored projects.
The MIT TLO maintains a list of MIT technologies that are available for licensing. The organization connects industry to the technologies developed at MIT and grants licenses for patented and copyrighted inventions to start-up and existing companies that demonstrate the technical and financial capabilities to develop the early-stage technologies into commercially successful products. Additionally, entrepreneurs interested in creating a start-up based on technologies invented and owned by MIT can work with MIT TLO to do so.
