Through direct-to-user licensing, the University of Washington provides finished products or services directly to end users, rather than licensing to others the rights to develop and sell such products or services.
Center for Educational Leadership
The University of Washington’s Center for Educational Leadership™ (CEL) offers comprehensive continuing education resources for teachers and principals. Launched in 2001 by Dr. Stephen Fink (retired), specific content was developed to help eliminate educational inequities by creating cultures of rigorous teaching, learning and leading. The Center turned to CoMotion to protect the content through copyright or trademark and licensed out the IP to other entities. CEL focused on forming relationships with educational organizations around the country while CoMotion managed the legal aspects of licensing this content, enabling the Center to make a big impact on the learning of educational leaders over the years.
EarlyEdU Alliance
The EarlyEdU Alliance ®, led by the College of Education at the University of Washington, was launched by founding director and Primary Investigator Gail Joseph to give early childhood teachers access to affordable teaching materials, relevant coursework and community and mentorship in order to complete their degree. The alliance consists of in-person and online foundational and practice-based courses developed by national experts in early learning, a “coaching companion” which helps reach students in remote locations, and a community of early childhood scholars and experts for reflection and practice. CoMotion helped to establish a business that distributed financial support between philanthropists, government and other funding agencies. To date, the EarlyEdU Alliance has served over an estimated 4900 students of early education, impacting the learning of over 49,000 children.
Rosetta
Rosetta™ is the premier molecular modeling software package for understanding protein structures, designing new proteins, and predicting function. What began in David Baker’s lab at the University of Washington (UW) in 2002 has evolved into one of the most powerful and reliable tools in structural biology.
Rosetta’s unparalleled quality and broad utility are the direct result of a revolutionary academic model: the Rosetta Commons. This global collaboration comprises over 100 participating institutions and 1,800 developers who have continually enhanced and refined the software. UW CoMotion serves as the lead institution, overseeing the execution of agreements and the licensing that sustains the ecosystem. CoMotion’s licensing strategy ensures broad accessibility and continuous improvement: grants zero-cost access to non-profit and academic users while requiring payment from full-profit companies.
The software’s powerful capabilities for solving complex, real-world problems—especially accelerating drug discovery—have attracted massive industry interest, evidenced by over 300 current commercial licensees. License fees are reinvested back into the Rosetta Commons community and infrastructure. This funding fuels a virtuous cycle that supports shared development infrastructure, education programs, other innovation platforms (ROSIE) and community building events like the annual RosettaCON, a world-class scientific meeting where collaborations, lasting friendships, and a distinct community identity are formed.
Rosetta is more than just software; it is a self-sustaining engine of innovation, built by academics, validated by industry, and powered by collaboration.
