The Office of Technology Development (OTD) manages inventions resulting from research conducted at UNC-Chapel Hill. OTD evaluates and markets UNC technologies, obtains intellectual property protection where appropriate, and licenses these technologies to industry. OTD also assists faculty in obtaining research support from corporate sponsors. OTD is dedicated to serving its faculty and helping corporations gain access to UNC's technological resources. This process works best when companies first identify specific areas of scientific interest, OTD can then bring inventions to a company's attention which specifically match those areas of interest. We invite companies to get to know us and hope you will think of us as a guide to the technology and collaborative opportunities available at UNC-Chapel Hill.

Representative Project Areas

Patents/Copyrights/Trademarks:OTD is responsible for protecting University-owned intellectual property. Where appropriate, OTD will determine, in conjunction with the inventors, if a patent application will be filed on an invention and in which countries, and coordinate communications with the selected patent attorney. OTD maintains a collection of all patents assigned to the University. 

Marketing to Established Companies: OTD takes pride in successfully identifying appropriate companies to approach with information describing new University-owned inventions. This is usually done initially via a nonconfidential executive summary which describes the invention. Companies that desire additional, technical information will be requested to sign a Confidential Disclosure Agreement (described below). 

License and Option Drafting and Negotiation: When a company is interested in acquiring rights to University-owned inventions, OTD will negotiate agreement terms with the company, draft the appropriate agreements, and distribute any funds that result from the agreement pursuant to University distribution policies. OTD will also negotiate and draft related Sponsored Research Agreements.

Start-up Companies: The University, through OTD, is actively reviewing inventions for candidates to be commercialized in companies started jointly by UNC, the inventors, and investors. We welcome inquiries from investors looking for new opportunities. 

Corporate-Sponsored Research: OTD matches faculty members with companies that share similar research interests. When appropriate, OTD administers corporate-sponsored extramural funding programs and works directly with faculty to identify new funding opportunities. 

Material Transfer Agreements and Confidential Disclosure Agreements: OTD is responsible for negotiating and signing all agreements that concern the transfer of research materials into or out of the University. When confidential information is being provided to or from a company or another university, OTD will create or review the agreements necessary to protect the rights of all participants.

 Summary of Services

Inventions, Licenses, Options	Mark Crowell Robert Pozner Marc Sedam Marie Christine Piriou	mark_crowell@unc.edu bob_pozner@unc.edu marc_sedam@unc.edu mcpiriou@unc.edu
Corporate-Sponsored Research	Robert Pozner	bob_pozner@unc.edu
OTD Legal Counsel	David Parker	david_m_parker@unc.edu
General Information	David Parker	david_m_parker@unc.edu
Royalty/Attorney Fees Management	Jennifer Kelley	jennifer_kelley@unc.edu
Material Transfer Agreements	Marie-Christine Piriou	mcpiriou@unc.edu
Confidential Disclosure Agreements	Marc Sedam	marc_sedam@unc.edu

The Office of Technology Development
CB# 4105, 308 Bynum Hall
The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill Chapel Hill, N.C. 27599-4105
(919) 966-3929
Fax: (919) 962-0646