Patents are expensive to obtain and maintain and can be difficult to enforce. The decision on whether or not to file a patent application is strictly a business decision based primarily on the likelihood of obtaining commercially useful protection for the invention and of earning revenues from its eventual commercial exploitation. We decide patentability by obtaining a professional opinion from a patent attorney. The market potential will ultimately define the likelihood of attracting a licensee willing to invest in developing and commercializing the invention. Narrow claims can be easy to circumvent and difficult to practice and enforce, thus making it difficult to attract a licensee.
Broad claims are the most valuable.
Unfortunately, the OTT is not able to pursue all technologies disclosed to the office. One outcome of its evaluation process is that the university may decline to file a patent application if it feels that the market potential of an invention, or the likelihood of earning revenues from the invention do not justify the expense of filing a patent application. Additionally, since patenting funds are limited, the university must allocate these resources to the most promising opportunities. The Office of Technology Transfer occasionally is contacted by companies seeking technologies for licensing. There often is an interest in sponsoring research as well.