Public disclosure means any presentation or publication that is available to people outside of Fox Chase Cancer Center. Generally, if you contact our office at the time that you are submitting an abstract, poster, talk, presentation, manuscript or grant application that describes the research, we will have enough time to evaluate the information, and file a patent application, if appropriate, before the information becomes publicly available. If you are in doubt about whether an anticipated disclosure would hurt patentability, please call the Office of Business Development for advice. Patent protection provides incentive for industry to license technologies from Fox Chase. That may seem like a long time until you consider the thousands of hours and millions of dollars it takes to develop, test, manufacture, and market a product before it is ever made available to the public.
Patents are a company's lifeblood.
They offer exclusivity which reduces a company's risk that it will be scooped during product research and development. In addition, the exclusivity gives a firm time to recoup its investment in a new product by acting as a barrier to the entry of competitors into the market. Broad patent protection for a technology is not always appropriate or necessary. In some cases, trademark licensing or copyrights are adequate protection. Return to top of page Fox Chase Policies While recognizing the benefits and importance of partnerships with industry, Fox Chase has very high standards for scientific integrity, academic freedom, and the open exchange of ideas.