Patent Assistance Fund Awards
Objective
The goal of the Patent Assistance Fund is to ensure adequate prosecution of intellectual property (“IP”) relating to CIRM Funded Inventions (“CFIs”) (as defined in the CIRM Grants Administration Policy for Academic and Non-Profit Institutions (GAP)) that have commercial relevance.
CIRM has become aware that some non-profit grantees faced with budget constraints forgo prosecution of intellectual property relating to CFIs, thereby potentially diminishing the value of the Inventions and their potential to attract downstream investment critical to commercialization and revenue generation. Consistent with CIRM’s existing IP policy, Grantees will continue to own CFIs and determine the ideal path to commercial exploitation of such inventions. CIRM will offer to provide assistance from post-provisional through to national phase applications. CIRM’s program is intended to provide funding assistance to help ensure Grantees preserve IP positions that are intended to enhance the marketability of CFIs and make downstream investment and development more likely.
Please see the PA for full details:
PA 12-08 : CIRM Patent Assistance Fund Awards [pdf] (Updated 3.23.15)
Application Process
Submission of an application for the CIRM Patent Funding Program involves a two-step process. First, for ease of administration, CIRM will require eligible non-profit institutions in California to submit an application for an award that will authorize up to $300,000 for use by the Grantee to fund eligible patent activities as described in the Program Announcement. Second, the disbursement of funding under the award is subject to review and approval of subsequent Grantee requests for funds. Such requests must include all required documentation needed for CIRM approval.
Eligibility: Only Technology Transfer Officials at current CIRM Grantee institutions are eligible to apply for funds under this program. In order to access the application, a Technology Transfer Official must register via the Grants Management Office at CIRM. If you are a Technology Transfer Official and you are interested in applying for this program and have not already registered, please contact Gabriel Thompson at gthompson@cirm.ca.gov.
To submit an Application:
1. Go to the Grants Management Portal (https://grants.cirm.ca.gov) and log in with your existing CIRM Username and Password. If you do not have a Username, and are a Technology Transfer Official for your Insitution, please contact Gabriel Thompson at gthompson@cirm.ca.gov.
2. On the “Open Programs” page, look for the section of the page labeled “RFAs and Programs Open for Applications”. Click on the “Start a Grant Application” link located next to the “PA 12-08 CIRM Patent Assistance Fund Awards: Grant Application” section.
3. Complete each section of the application by clicking on the appropriate link and following the posted instructions. Templates for the application proposal (Part B) and the signature page can be found and submitted in the “Upload Required Documents” section.
4. To submit your application, click on the Submit (application number) button. Please note that once this has been selected, you will no longer be able to make changes to your Appllication.
5. To confirm submission of your Application, go back to your home page and click on the tab labeled “Your Applications”. Check the list under the section labled “Your Submitted Applications”. Your application number and project title for “PA 12-08 Patent Assistance Fund” will display under the “Your Submitted Applications” section once the submission process has been completed.
Schedule of Deadlines
Applicants will have opportunities to apply for a Patent Assistant Fund grant on a monthly basis until June 30, 2016.
Contact Information
For programmatic inquires:
C. Scott Tocher
Counsel to the Chair,
Independent Citizens Oversight Committee
California Institute for Regenerative Medicine
Email: stocher@cirm.ca.gov
Phone: 415-396-9136
For application questions:
Gabe Thompson
Director of Grants Management
California Institute for Regenerative Medicine
Email: gthompson@cirm.ca.gov
Phone: 415-396-9274