Technology Transfer
Research undertaken at Rhine-Waal University of Applied Sciences is continuously generating new insights in numerous scientific fields. Through technology transfer, this knowledge is made available to the public to the common benefit of society. At the same time, the university also has a responsibility of protecting the economic viability of new innovations. In co-operation with PROvendis GmbH, the central patent marketing agency of the universities and research organisations in North Rhine-Westphalia, the Centre for Research, Innovation and Transfer supports researchers with information and advice to ensure that their ideas and inventions are handled in the best possible way from the drawing board to full implementation.
Innovation – the entirety of newly developed ideas and inventions as well as their economic implementation. The Centre for Research, Innovation and Transfer doesn’t just actively support researchers in their quest for new innovations, but also the private sector by finding and connecting interested companies to potential research partners.
The Centre for Research, Innovation and Transfer assesses each new research project at the university on its potential for innovation. If a new idea or invention is developed during the course of a project, the researcher(s) must disclose it to the university. The university then decides if this new invention/innovation can be classified as an “employee invention” or an “private invention”. In the case of employee inventions, the university has intellectual property claims which must be protected; the full rights to private inventions are granted to the inventor. The determination process begins with a formal enquiry by the Centre for Research, Innovation and Transfer, which is followed by a detailed examination by PROvendis GmbH. If an invention is classified as an employee invention, then the university will then officially register it as a patent or utility model.
If you’re an interested researcher, please contact us. We look forward to supporting you!
Innovationspartner Niederrhein
The Innovationspartner Niederrhein are a funding initiative of the state of NRW. Together with partners from the regional economy, we pursue the goal of driving forward innovation in our region.
As a regional network of universities, business development agencies and chambers of commerce, we particularly support small and medium-sized companies in their innovation projects. The Innovationspartner Niederrhein are your contact for support in innovation and innovation management, funding programs and digitalization.
Link: www.innovationspartner-niederrhein.de
Provendis GmbH
PROvendis GmbH, based in Mühlheim an der Ruhr, is the central patent marketing agency for 27 universities and other research institutions in North Rhine-Westphalia. As a subsidiary enterprise of the North Rhine-Westphalian universities, PROvendis is their service provider and contact point for securing the intellectual property rights of university inventions, as well as successfully marketing them. PROvendis works closely with transfer offices, patent scouts and the inventors themselves at collaborating universities. The company’s main goal is to make the innovation potential of universities economically viable in a timely manner by professional marketing new inventions to companies.
To that end, innovation managers from PROvendis provide support for researchers from the assessment stage for a new invention, to the patenting stage and finally to the professional commercialisation of their innovations. PROvendis acts as a link between science and industry and thus supports lasting sustainable partnerships.
The PROvendis team consists of scientists and engineers with proven expertise in specialist subjects and industries as well as experience in patent law; a lawyer assures specialist legal competency. This know-how enables the innovation managers to identify whether an invention is patentable and thus deemed suitable for further technology transfer.
PROvendis GmbH was originally established as a fully-owned subsidiary of ZENIT GmbH in 2001 within the framework of the German federal government’s so-called “utilisation initiative”. The universities organised within the patent marketing association of North Rhine-Westphalia have been shareholders of PROvendis GmbH since September 2008. PROvendis supports 27 North Rhine-Westphalian universities in the patent group.
PROvendis is funded by:
