The University of Washington offers a “pre-packaged” intellectual property (IP) program for sponsored research to make it easier for businesses to partner with UW in transforming discoveries into innovative solutions.
The Washington Innovation Advantage Program (WIAP), launched in 2015, allows industrial sponsors and UW researchers to opt into set financial terms for non-exclusive or exclusive commercial licenses to intellectual property upfront, when the sponsorship agreement is negotiated. Companies can secure intellectual property access before a project begins, streamlining execution of sponsored project agreements, reducing financial uncertainty for sponsors, and minimizing time spent on licensing negotiations. This program is available across the UW, including the College of Engineering and the School of Medicine. The faculty member leading the proposed project can choose to opt in to this licensing model or may choose the standard UW licensing process.
The upfront costs are modest. Companies can get non-exclusive access to project intellectual property for 5% of the project cost. For exclusive access, companies pay 10% of the project cost, plus a 1% royalty on net sales exceeding $20M.
WIAP quick guide
For more information and a detailed overview of the program, see the WIAP quick guide PDF.
WIAP legal agreements
WIAP offers several “Pre-packaged” intellectual property licenses for use as-is with sponsored programs.