New invention disclosure form now available

The main aim of the new invention disclosure form made available to campus on ePasteur is to facilitate and clarify the nature of inventive contributions made by inventors, with the addition of an explanatory appendix. The form has also been amended to simplify the fields that need to be filled out and update the information on software.

If your research produces results that you think could lead to applications for health (diagnostics, therapies, vaccines) or any other technological fields, your first step should be to contact the Patents and Inventions Office in the Technology Transfer and Industrial Partnership Department (DARRI): sbi@pasteur.fr

You should contact the Patents and Inventions Office before publishing your results and before any written or oral disclosure. The first step in this process is to complete an invention disclosure form.
 

Appendix to help determine inventive contributions

The section of the form in which the nature of the inventive contribution is indicated has been reformatted to make it easier to provide a more detailed description. To guide you through the process, an explanatory appendix has been added to the end of the form. The aim of the appendix is to offer inventors a resource that addresses the most frequently asked questions using specific examples. But as the appendix cannot cover every possible case, the Institut Pasteur Patents and Inventions Office is happy to offer any help needed to complete the form.
 
Technical memo: nature and timing

An invention disclosure must be accompanied by a comprehensive technical memo providing full details about the invention being declared. Most of the time, a draft article can serve as a technical memo and is attached to the invention disclosure.

As a general rule, a patent application based on a draft article containing all the relevant information, sequences, formulas, methods, figures, etc. can be prepared and submitted within a few weeks. This may seem like a relatively short time frame but it should be factored in well in advance as the best time to prepare an invention disclosure is when the inventors are nearly ready to submit their draft article.

The invention disclosure must be made before revealing any information about the invention. Information can be disclosed through various channels: medRxiv, bioRxiv or GitHub, through a poster or lecture, an email exchange with an external colleague without specifying that the content is confidential, in the press, on a laboratory website, or even over Bluesky, LinkedIn or another social media platform.

Make sure you mention "Institut Pasteur – confidential" in any internal presentations and in your emails to ensure the invention remains confidential before the patent application has been filed.
 
Legal obligations

Some regulations are clearly stated in the form, including the obligation to sign any documents regarding patent procedures, especially any patent transfers to employers as required by the Institut Pasteur's Patents and Inventions Office and other patent offices. We would remind you that these patent transfers are a legal and contractual obligation stipulated in all employment contracts with an inventive remit. The main inventor, who is the contact person for the Patents and Inventions Office, finalizes the form, which should also be signed by the designated co-inventors.
 
 
Please contact the Patents and Inventions Office if you have any questions: sbi@pasteur.fr

Training sessions run by the Technology Transfer and Industrial Partnership Department (DARRI) on the topic "From scientific discovery to start-up via technology transfer" will be available in 2025 in a new half-day format.

If you are interested, please see the list of available training