Innovators
Innovators and New Technology Reporting
Government and Contractor employees must report New Technology Innovations to the KSC Innovative Partnerships Program Office (KT-F). New Technology Innovations can be inventions, discoveries, significant improvements, new techniques, products, processes or software programs that are innovative or unique. Employees complete NASA form 1679, Disclosure of Invention and New Technology or complete the form online at www.webentre.nasa.gov. 
New Technology Reports (NTR’s) are assigned to a licensing manager and are evaluated for commercial potential and NASA Intellectual Property Interests. For technologies with high commercial potential a marketing and licensing strategy is developed.
Intellectual Property Management
Patents, Copyrights and Trademarks are forms of Intellectual Property protection that give inventors offensive rights against possible infringers. KSC’s Patent Counsel will secure Intellectual Property protection for technologies with high commercial potential and which address a need of a Mission Directorate.
Marketing and Licensing New Technology
Technologies are marketed to directly to companies seeking new and improved products and services. The Office also submits the technology to NASA Tech Briefs for publication in support of the marketing effort. The Office will coordinate the exchange of information on new technologies with interested partners. Often an industry briefing by the innovators will be scheduled at Kennedy Space Center to facilitate the exchange of information.
Interested companies submit license applications and a commercialization plan to the KSC Licensing Manager. Inventions, Patents, Patent Applications and Copyrights can all be licensed. NASA needs to have an ownership interest in inventions offered for license. Companies generally pay licensing fees and/or royalties based on sales of products encompassing the licensed technology.
After a technology is licensed to a company the Office monitors the licensee’s sales of products and services incorporating NASA technologies. Government inventors are entitled to a share of these fees. Any remaining fees come to the KSC Technology Transfer Office and are used to fund projects at the Center.
Success Stories
Articles are written and submitted to NASA’s TechFinder website and Spinoffs Magazine to promote the Centers’ successful partnerships. A partnership qualifies for a Success Story if the technology or its application has been licensed and the licensee has generated commercial sales. Other factors that are considered are whether the commercialization of the technology brings about cost savings, has created or saved jobs, and/or improved quality of life.
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