An invention is “any new and useful art, process, machine, manufacture or composition of matter, or any new and useful improvement in any art, process, machine, manufacture or composition of matter.”

The invention is defined by the claims of the patent.

The act of inventing involves two stages:

• Conception of an idea.
• Reduction of the idea to a practical form.

An invention begins with an idea - “conception” of the thing or subject matter that is ultimately created and the complete means of creating it. Then the idea is reduced into practice by testing and ultimately making or translating the idea into a physical and useful form. The conception (idea) stage is complete when there is definite and permanent idea of an operative invention that could be described to a person of ordinary skill in the art who could then construct or use the invention without extensive further research or experimentation.

A person is an inventor when they have contributed intellectually to the creation of the invention.

For the purpose of determining who is an inventor, only a person’s role in the conception (idea) stage is considered. Each person who makes an original and substantive contribution to conceiving the thing ultimately invented or one of its essential elements is legally entitled to be named as an inventor. An inventor is one who formulates and describes the means of making the thing ultimately invented.

It is therefore important that only those individuals who have actually contributed intellectually to a (potential) invention are listed on the reporting form and particularly on any patent application. "Polite" attribution of individuals as inventors can have serious negative consequences. In the worst case, the patent may be declared invalid.

Inventor contributions must be indicated in percentage. This is used to determine AU/AUH's share of any inventions made in collaboration with external parties and to calculate the distribution of royalties if the invention is commercially exploited.

When you report an invention, we can assist you in determining who the inventors are if needed.

Who is not an inventor?

A person will not be considered an inventor, if he or she merely:

• suggested or thought about an idea or end result or posed the question to be solved, but did not also come up with the actual way of implementing the idea, achieving the end result or solving the problem.
• contributed an obvious, rather than an original and substantive, element of the invention.
• was involved in testing or reducing someone else’s idea into practice.
• suggested an extraneous idea or a variation that was not incorporated into nor contributed directly to the actual invention.
• followed instructions of those who conceived the end result or solution.
• is the department head, supervisor or head of the laboratory where the invention was developed, but did not contribute directly and substantially to the inventive process; or provided funding for the research, equipment. laboratory where the invention was created.

Inventorship versus authorship

Inventorship is also different than authorship. A person may be an author or co-author of a publication describing an invention, but will not be considered a co-inventor unless he or she made an independent conceptual contribution to the invention.

Yes, typically a student will own their rights to an invention, unless the invention was created by a student in the capacity of an AU/RM employee

You are encouraged to report your invention for all discoveries and developments that you believe may have significant value as a solution to a problem.

If you are in doubt, please contact AU's business developers at Kitchen to discuss the invention and strategies for commercialisation.

Find the business developer affiliated with your department here

Within two months of receiving the submission, you should receive a response on whether AU wishes to acquire the rights and initiate a commercialisation process.

Here, it is important that: 

• The invention is patentable.
• There is a market need for the technology.
• There is a plan for further development work.
• There are individuals who can conduct research on the invention.

You should be prepared to allocate approximately 1.5 hours for an assessment meeting of your discovery and an additional 45 minutes for a meeting following the patent evaluation process.

Patent applications are typically drafted by an external patent attorney. Once an application is submitted, the patent attorney will request the inventors to sign a Declaration of Inventorship, where the inventors transfer their rights to AU/RM.

Your application will be published 18 months after the filing date. If the invention is granted a patent, it will be recorded in a publicly accessible database, serving as prior art against any future patent applications.

The actual patenting process takes years.

When the patent is granted, it is valid for 20 years from the first filing date, provided that maintenance fees to the patent offices are paid.

The technology is typically transferred through a licensing or sales agreement, where AU/RM grants rights to the use of the defined technology to a commercial third party.

In cases where AU/RM does not wish to continue the commercialisation of the patented technology, it is possible to have the patenting rights assigned to yourself. Afterwards, you have the opportunity to commercialise the invention through licensing or a spin-out company under the guidance of AU's business developers at Kitchen.

There are several options for seeking funding for your invention.

You can find further information about a selection of different funds here

To prepare your pitch for investors or PoC funding, there is a template available. The template can be seen as a tool to structure the various elements of your pitch and should therefore only be viewed as a starting point for your own presentation.

Download the template here