The Office of Technology Transfer Office (OTT) negotiates Material Transfer Agreements, Cooperative Research Development Agreements (CRADA), Licenses, Collaboration Agreements, Confidential Disclosure Agreements, and Clinical Trial Agreements. OTT also provides guidance and assistance to NIMH researchers, evaluates employee inventions for their patentability and commercial potential, coordinates royalty distributions arising out of NIMH inventions, and informs NIMH personnel and researchers about the latest and relevant developments in the technology transfer area. In addition, the NIMH OTT serves as a conduit for interactions between NIMH researchers and private and/or public entities, represents NIMH interests in intramural and extramural technology transfer activities, assists NIMH management in formulating policies and procedures affecting technology transfer issues, interacts regularly with NIH ODs OTT royalties and licensing monitoring and enforcement professionals and outside counsel to secure the patent protection for inventions. In the first 11 months of this fiscal year, 79 Material Transfer Agreements, 1 license, 1 CRADA amendment, 12 Confidential Disclosure Agreements, 1 Memorandum of Understanding (MOU), and 3 collaboration agreements were completed. One (1) invention report was received and analyzed for patentability and the ongoing communications with the patent offices in the US and other countries were monitored. NIMH OTT also communicated with publishers on behalf of NIMH scientists with respect to the publishers' copyright agreements. NIMH OTT has been working to accelerate marketing efforts and has designed and distributed marketing materials for several meetings, including the Association for University Technology Managers annual meeting. A NIMH technology transfer representative was a speaker at the Department of Health and Human Services' 2018 annual Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) and Small Business Technology Transfer (STTR) meeting on how to collaborate with the NIH and met with several company representatives. NIMH technology transfer has participated in various NIH-wide technology transfer committees and initiatives. These projects include serving as members of a working group to award contracts to law firms for patent-related services and technology transfer database working group that will integrate data from all ICs, including agreements, patenting and licensing. Currently, each IC has separate databases. NIMH and NINDS have worked together to establish a neuroscience-focused technology transfer collaboration designed to take advantage of the common neuroscience underpinnings that form the foundation of the ICs to maximize impact, efficiency and effectiveness. One of the initiatives undertaken by the collaboration involves forming a technology assessment group (TAG) consisting of NIMH and NINDS investigators to provide scientific and commercial development input to assist technology transfer staff in making patent decisions. Additionally, the group is working to develop a neuroscience technology transfer website to provide information to the NIH and external community.
