Licensing: Background and Policy Information

Each year, scientists at the National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH), National Institutes of Health (NIH), generate new inventions based on rigorous basic scientific and biomedical research. The NIH Office of Technology Transfer (OTT), in turn, uses a variety of licensing mechanisms to transfer these inventions for development commercially that will benefit the public health. Where necessary, OTT seeks intellectual property protection (that is, "patents") on particular inventions to ensure their rapid and effective development.