Submit Disclosure – Instructions
Electronic invention disclosure forms should be completed in their entirety and electronically signed by each Northeastern inventor prior to review by CRI. You are able to complete the disclosure form in multiple sittings by saving your disclosure as a draft and resuming your work the next time you login.
What a Complete Disclosure Includes
- Addresses need to be residential addresses, using NU’s main address is not sufficient.
- Both a work/student email as well as an alternative email should be provided so that we may be in touch with all of the inventors throughout the review process and any patent process.
- If an inventor is from another organization (e.g. another university or a corporate entity), their affiliation with that organization should be made clear in the disclosure so that NU can be in touch with the other organization about the joint invention. When adding this inventor to the disclosure be sure to select company name as their affiliate university or corporate entity.
- Remember, an inventor is someone who has contributed to the conception of the invention. A person who has carried out validating experiments or provided data by way of standard testing is generally not considered an inventor for patent purposes.
- Was the research that led to this invention funded by (1) the government (federal or otherwise), (2) a corporate sponsor, (3) a gift, or (4) other?
- If the answer is yes, the disclosure form should include the name of the funding agency, sponsor, or donor, as well as the grant number or agreement number.
- Grant numbers should be provided in the exact same format as stated on the grant agreement itself.
- Each agency’s format is different, and the proper format is important for reporting purposes.
- If the invention was funded by an SRA or a gift and you have a copy of that agreement, its inclusion in the disclosure as an attachment is appreciated.
- A sufficient and enabling description of the invention is the most important element of the disclosure. The purpose of a provisional patent application is to preserve the priority date. A priority date draws a line in the sand and establishes the cutoff date for what prior art the patent office will examine when judging any eventual patent application for novelty and non-obviousness.
- In order to effectively preserve the priority date, there must be an enabled description of the invention. Enabled means that the disclosure describes the invention in such technical detail that anyone else with ordinary skill in the field would be able to reproduce the invention without undue experimentation.
- Disclose as soon as you are in possession of the invention and at least 4 weeks in advance of any public disclosure.
- Any plans to disclose publicly by publishing a paper (in print or online) or presenting or speaking at a conference or other event, should be made explicitly clear in the disclosure.
- The CRI requires at least 4 weeks notice prior to public disclosure. If you do not submit your disclosure with sufficient notice, the CRI cannot guarantee that a provisional patent application will be filed in advance of the public disclosure.
- If you disclose publicly before any patent application is filed, you lose the possibility of foreign protection in most jurisdictions, but you can still pursue US patent rights as long as you file within one year of the public disclosure.
Submit a Disclosure
Go to the Center for Research Innovation Inventor Portal website and enter your username and password.
Once logged in you will see your Dashboard which lists recent activities related to your Invention Disclosures. There is a menu on the left hand side to navigate the Inventor Portal.
Left Side Menu
Dashboard – Allows you to see current disclosure activity
Disclosures – See the status of all invention disclosures on which you are listed as an inventor
Add New Disclosure – Submit a new disclosure
Edit Profile – Edit your user information
Add a New Disclosure
Click Add New Disclosure tab. Fill out the title and then click Create New Disclosure.
Once you enter the title you will be directed to fill out the disclosure. All questions marked with an asterisk (*) are required before you submit the disclosure for review. No disclosure will be reviewed until it is fully complete and submitted. NOTE: Click “Save as Draft” often as the site does not autosave.
Add Documents
In addition to filling out the questions you must add related documents to your disclosure. Multiple sections may require you to upload documents, such as a fully detailed technical description of your invention. All documents can be uploaded in Section 3. Click Upload Document to browse your computer for the documents. There is no limit to the number of files you can add to this section. If your files are larger than 10 MB please email them to disclosure@northeastern.edu.
Adding Inventors to your Disclosure
To add additional inventors, click the Add Inventor button. You will be prompted to search our database of inventors to check if their profile already exists. If so, please use the existing profile.
If your inventor is not found you will be prompted to add a new contact.
Fill in all related information about the inventor. You must include their email and home address.
Once you add the inventor profile you will be prompted to edit the inventor information related to this invention.
- Ensure that company, department, role type, and contribution are all listed for each inventor.
- You do not need to complete Signature type, signature terms, and date signed as these will be completed by the CRI.
Once complete click Save Changes.
Add Funding Section
Click Add Funding. You will be prompted to search our funding institutions (federal, non-federal, foundation and industry, gift, etc.) to check if a record already exists in our system.
- Type in the funding institution name and search our database. Select Choose if the funding institution is listed. Enter the Grant or Contract Number from the funding agency and save changes. All funding must be added separately.
- If the funding institution is not listed click the Add a New Funding Institution. A new box will pop up to add company name and address.
- Every grant used to fund this invention must be entered separately. Note: Failure to disclose all grant information may result in rejection of invention disclosure.
Submit the Disclosure
Once the invention disclosure is complete, click Submit for Review in the red box labeled “Draft” or at the bottom of the disclosure. Your invention disclosure will be reviewed for completeness and may be sent back to Draft status for additional information.
Add Remarks
If you have any additional comments or information to add after your Invention Disclosure has been submitted, add them in the Remarks Section.
Reviewing Technology Status
The sections labeled Technology, Patents, and Agreements will provide a status update of filed patent applications and any executed agreements.
