WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW
AND DO
Overview and Policy Links
You should be particularly careful about conflict of interest issues
if you plan to:
- engage in consulting activities;
- establish a professional relationship with a company;
- become involved in any way with a company that may license your
technology; or
- you are already engaged in any of these activities.
Please contact the Technology Transfer Department at x 6467 if any
of these situations might apply to you.
The RPM
provides more detail on issues related to working for an outside business organization.
Licensing Conflict of Interest
Berkeley Lab has developed specific policies and processes to address DOE, University of California and California state law requirements regarding conflicts of interest in the licensing context. As an inventor, you may be invited by the licensing professional in TTD to work with him or her and potential licensees to effectively commercialize Berkeley Lab inventions. Because inventors may have the opportunity to influence licensing decisions in ways that could lead to personal gain or give advantage to companies in which they have a financial interest, inventors must disclose their financial interest in companies with which the licensing professional is negotiating a license.
Licensing staff will send you a copy of the TT 100–LBNL disclosure form when negotiating with a company interested in licensing your invention. You must complete and return this form in a timely manner, as the licensing review and approval is dependent upon it. This information will indicate the review necessary for the license -- e.g., if an inventor is a principal in the licensing company, a review by the DOE contracting officer will be required. The economic disclosure will not be required in the cases of multiple non-exclusive licenses offered on identical terms to all licensees. A typical example of this would be software licensed under a standard agreement to anyone or any company.
See Process for Conflict of Interest Review for Licensing at Berkeley Lab for more detail.
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