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The Invention Disclosure Report and How to Fill it Out

The invention disclosure report is available as a PDF in German and English.

Explanatory Notes for the Invention Disclosure Report

1. Short Description and Date of Completion

  • Please provide a brief description of your invention and the date it was completed under point 1.a). By this we mean the date that it was first possible to describe the invention to the extent that it could have been technically implemented by a third party.

2. Participating Inventors

  • The personal information of all participating inventors should be provided under point 2. This is where you should list the people who significantly contributed to creating the invention. Individuals who merely implemented an idea after prior instruction are not considered inventors.
  • For Freie Universität Berlin it is also important to know whether the individual inventors were employed at Freie Universität Berlin at the time the invention was developed or whether they were independent inventors. The most up-to-date contact details must be provided for individuals who were involved in developing the invention but are no longer employed at the university.
  • It is also important to determine which parts of the invention were worked on by each individual inventor. If the university makes a claim to the invention, the inventor will be remunerated with 30 percent of the gross revenue generated from any potential commercial exploitation. In the case of joint inventions, each member of the group will receive a share of said 30 percent according to their proportional contribution to the invention.
  • All participants must confirm the extent to which each inventor contributed to the invention by providing their signature under point 2.

3. Project Funding

  • The details concerning potential project funding are important insofar as the university must verify whether certain obligations must be fulfilled vis-à-vis third-party funding institutions in the event of patent registration and commercial exploitation. Employees or students in a working group who have made an invention without the involvement of the principal investigator shall notify their supervisor and/or the principal investigator, as said person alone is permitted to provide details regarding such matters.

4. Publications

  • If any parts of your invention have already been published or disclosed (in writing or verbally), then you must immediately notify PULS when you submit your invention disclosure report. Please note that prematurely disclosing your invention through any kind of (scientific/academic) publication may result in your patent being denied protection, as such disclosures would be considered prejudicial to novelty.
  • Please notify us as soon as possible if you would like to publish earlier so that we can attempt to speed up the process.

5. Description of the Invention

  • You can find suggestions on how to structure the description of the invention in the attachment to the invention disclosure report. Two to three pages should suffice. If you are already planning on issuing a publication, then you should include it as well. In each case you must clearly indicate what the inventor considers new or innovative about the invention.

6. Declaration

  • The declaration must be read and signed in the designated section by all inventors. This is also where you pledge that you will notify us of any changes to your contact information. Otherwise, PULS cannot guarantee that any potential remuneration will be distributed to the inventors.

If you need further assistance in filling out your invention disclosure report or have any other questions, then please get in contact with the Patent and Licensing Service (PULS).

Contact                                                                                      

Andrea Hübner
Phone: +49 30 838-73616
E-Mail: andrea.huebner@fu-berlin.de

Further Information