Georgia Institute of Technology

FAQ

1. Should I keep an inventor's notebook?

Yes, the organizers strongly encourage students to keep an inventor’s notebook. To this end, one notebook will be provided to each student who has indicated an intent to compete. Please contact after you have submitted your intent to compete to get your notebook.

An inventor's notebook is a written record of your invention and your progress in developing it. While there are many websites offering guides to the proper keeping of an inventor’s notebook, the Wikipedia entry http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Inventor%27s_notebook is particularly well done.

When using your notebook, keep in mind these five simple attributes:

• Notebooks must be permanently bound with consecutively numbered pages.
• Use legible and permanent (inked) entries.
• Use initialed (or signed) and dated entries.
• Signatures should be witnessed for significant entries.
• Witnesses need to understand the technology but would not be named as co-inventors.

A patent can be litigated at any time during its life. Twenty to twenty five years can elapse from the date of the initial concept to the expiration of an issued patent. It’s therefore important to maintain your laboratory notebooks accordingly.






2. How will The InVenture Prize competition be judged?

The judging process consists of one or more Preliminary Round(s) followed by a Final Round. Judges in the Preliminary Round(s) and the four-judge panel in the Final Round will each have expertise in engineering, science, computing, and/or business. These expert judges will evaluate how well the inventors respond to each of the five criteria listed below in no particular order. Sample questions that follow from each criterion are also given. The criteria and sample questions are:

Innovation
Is the idea novel? How does it compare to other ideas which address the same problem?

Marketability
Is there a demand for the invention? Will people buy it?

Market Size
How big is the market for the invention?

Inventor Passion
How driven is the inventor or team by the idea?

Probability of Becoming a Successful Business
Would someone invest in helping make the invention a reality?

Preliminary Round(s)
Faculty organizers and other faculty volunteers, all experts and successful inventors, will work with students prior to the Preliminary Round(s) to help them focus their thinking and improve their presentations. In the Preliminary Round(s), each faculty judge will give a holistic score on a scale of 1-10 for each invention along with comments on each of the five specific criteria. This scoring gives all the inventors feedback on their invention and presentation and will determine which inventions will advance to the Final Round. Provisional US patent applications will, with the assistance of the inventors, be filed by Georgia Tech on behalf of the inventors of the top 20 inventions selected in the Preliminary Round(s).

Final Round
No more than 10 inventions will advance to the Final Round. In this round, a panel of four expert judges will listen to the inventors’ timed 2.5 minute “pitches” and then ask questions for 2.5 minutes. They will then meet in private to evaluate the inventions using the five criteria given above. A numerical score will be assigned to each invention for each criterion and a total score computed. Each criterion is equally weighted. Up to four inventions will be selected by the expert judges.

These inventions, or a subset of then, will then be further judged by a panel of non-expert "Decision Makers" who are all very successful business people. They will select the first and second place winners using as criteria the inventors’ responses to broad, more personal questions like "What would winning (or loosing) the InVenture Prize competition mean to you"?

People’s Choice Awards
In addition to the prizes associated with the Final Round, members of the Georgia Tech Community attending the Preliminary Round(s) can participate in the People’s Choice Awards by voting for their favorite three inventions. Cash awards will be made to the resulting winners.




3. Can a graduate student compete either individually or as part of a team with undergraduates?

No, the competition is only open to current undergraduates and recent BS graduates. You are eligible to compete if you will either be a student in Fall or Spring of the current academic year OR if you graduated in the previous Fall, Spring or Summer. In any case, the invention must have been conceived while you were an undergraduate to compete.

4. If I am a co-inventor with others who are not current Georgia Tech undergraduates, can I still compete with the invention?

Yes, if you fully disclose the contributions by all individuals.

5. Are there other invention/innovation competitions that I can enter?

Yes, there are a number of competitions.

6. Are any inventions I come up with mine or do they belong to Georgia Tech?

Participation in the InVenture Prize competition does NOT require students to assign their intellectual property rights to the Georgia Tech Research Corporation (GTRC). Provided that conception and/or reduction to practice of the invention did not result from work performed under a sponsored research agreement, significant use of Georgia Tech resources, or duties assigned to you as an employee of the Institute, your submission should be deemed as an Individual Effort under the Institute’s Intellectual Property Policy.

It is also important for you to be mindful of intellectual property rights of any former or current employer if you conceived and/or reduced to practice your invention while an intern, co-op, or employee of a company.

Should you have any questions regarding any potential rights of GTRC and/or your employer, you are strongly encouraged to contact prior to submitting your invention to the InVenture Prize competition.

7. If I was being paid as a UROP student when I came up with an idea related to my UROP research, can I enter The InVenture Prize competition?

Yes, you can. The fact that your idea is related to your UROP research does not preclude you from participating. When you register, please indicate on your InVenture Prize submission that your invention is related to a UROP research project and describe the involvement of your UROP faculty advisor, if any. Your faculty advisor may be notified of your submission.

8. If I received substantial input from a professor or other Georgia Tech employee, can I enter The InVenture Prize competition?

The InVenture Prize organizers, Georgia Tech, and the Georgia Tech Research Corporation want to ensure that the intellectual property rights of others are respected and the contributions of all inventors are recognized. Input from others, however, does not necessarily constitute an inventive contribution.

When you register, please indicate on your InVenture Prize submission any professor, Georgia Tech researcher, other employee or anyone else who has contributed to your idea and explain their involvement. Those individuals may be notified of your submission.

Further, if you or a Georgia Tech employee with whom you are collaborating believe that an inventive contribution was made by the employee to your submission, a record of invention should be submitted to GTRC for review under the Institute’s Intellectual Property Policy. The submission will be reviewed and, if appropriate, GTRC will favorably entertain a request to release the technology to the inventors. Upon request, and when deemed appropriate, GTRC may request outside patent counsel to assist in a determination of inventorship.

9. I came up with an idea while employed as a co-op/intern. Can I submit this invention?

Maybe you can. The employment agreement that you have with the company, if any, will dictate the disposition of any intellectual property related to your employment. Should you have any questions regarding ownership of your invention, you are strongly encouraged to contact prior to submitting your invention to The InVenture Prize.

10. I have used some Georgia Tech resources in developing my invention. Can I enter The InVenture Prize competition?

Yes you can. Please indicate what resources were utilized so that the disposition of the intellectual property can be determined. Should you have any questions regarding the use of Georgia Tech’s resources, you are strongly encouraged to contact prior to submitting your invention to the InVenture Prize competition. Note that awards made as part of the prototype/proof of concept competition do not qualify.

11. Our invention was developed as part of a project class. How does this affect our ability to enter The InVenture Prize competition?

This should not affect your ability to enter the InVenture Prize competition. Please indicate which class your idea resulted from on your submission and the name of the course professor. The InVenture Prize organizers may verify the disposition of the submitted intellectual property with the Georgia Tech Research Corporation.

12. If I enter The InVenture Prize competition and disclose my ideas are the protected in any way?

Submissions to the InVenture Prize will, in the Preliminary Round(s), be judged in front of an audience open only to members of the Georgia Tech community. This does not constitute public disclosure, even if your presentation is enabling. Thus all rights to the intellectual property are retained by the inventors.

If your submission is selected for the Final Round of the competition, at your discretion, Georgia Tech Research Corporation will assist you in filing a provisional US patent application at no cost to you. This will preserve all rights of the finalists in the Final Round of the competition, which will be open to the public and media.

13. If I win The InVenture Prize, do I automatically get a free patent application?

As a part the InVenture Prize competition, Georgia Tech Research Corporation will engage patent counsel to work with you to review your winning invention for patentability as well as prepare and file an application for a United States Patent as applicable. Georgia Tech Research Corporation will pay for the associated fees up to $20,000.

14. If I win The InVenture Prize, does that mean I will automatically have a paid internship to further develop my ideas?

No. However, winners are eligible to submit a proposal to the InVenture Prize Fund requesting the additional resources needed to further develop their invention. While details are still being worked out by the organizers, the proposal could include requests for a stipend, space, initial working capital, computing resources, market vetting, opportunities for raising capital etc. Proposals will be supported based on merit and available resources. If your proposal is funded, the InVenture Prize Fund may require you to "give up" a percentage of any future value of your invention. Growing the Fund will allow the organizers to help future generations of GT student inventors.

In any case, the organizers will make a good faith effort to help the winners "take the next step" in developing their invention.

15. If I win The InVenture Prize competition, what “in kind” help can I expect?

Winners will have access to free business services such as legal and patent services (including a free patent filing courtesy of the Georgia Tech Office of Technology Licensing), market vetting, opportunities for raising capital, and mentorship by faculty and industry entrepreneurs.

16. Can I do anything I wish with the cash award?

Yes, but we encourage you to invest it in your invention!

17. Do I have to wait until I register to work on my invention?

No, start early and often!

18. Can I enter with multiple inventions?

No, only one invention per student is allowed, regardless of team or individual status.

19. Does showing my invention to the cameramen for The InVenture Prize constitute public disclosure for patent rights?

No, neither the cameramen nor the producers are "skilled in the art" of engineering and thus showing them does not constitute public disclosure.