• We have streamlined the four existing versions of the IP Disclosure form into one for a more improved user experience and secure submission of confidential information.
• The online form is built with logic that will only ask for information that is needed to provide, based on the type of technology being disclosed and whether you answer yes or no as you proceed through the form. 
• Creators are able to transmit the form with attachments to another person for review or edits prior to submitting. For example, you can leverage your department business manager for funding information or send it to your advisor for a final review.
• The online form reduces the likelihood of file corruption (common with many pdf submissions). 

CMU users are able to sign into the system via SSO using their Andrew ID, provided they are on campus or logged into the campus VPN. When logged in, each section (page) is saved when you click the "Save as Draft" button on the left side of the page. You can log out and return to finish at a later time. You must, however, complete each section within 30 minutes or your work in that section will be lost.

Yes. A person who is not a Creator of the IP to be disclosed may prepare and submit a form on behalf of the Creators.

If you are logged in through SSO, you have 30 minutes to complete each section

Users who are logged into the system may save an in-progress form to finish later; however, any draft form that is not submitted within 90 days will be purged.

If you are NOT logged in, you must complete each page within 30 minutes and the whole form in one session. If you allow a page to time out or leave the form without submitting it, all of your entries will be lost.

The required fields are:

• TITLE
• LEAD CREATOR
  • Is the creator currently a student, faculty, or staff member of CMU?
  • If Yes you will need to enter the Creator’s Andrew ID.
  • If No, you will need to provide their Legal Name and Preferred Email Address
• Nature of Technology Being Disclosed [you must check options from a provided list]
• Short Technology Description

While this is the bare minimum needed to submit a form, please note that CTTEC will need to follow up with you to obtain additional information to evaluate your disclosure or to comply with federal reporting requirements. Funding information is also incredibly important!

If you would like assistance prior to submitting a disclosure form, reach out to the Business Development and Licensing Manager assigned to your department–they are here to help you!

The Lead Creator must be or have been affiliated with CMU at the time they contributed to the development of the technology being disclosed. The Lead Creator should be the CMU Creator who made the most significant contribution to the technology and/or the CMU Creator who will serve as the primary point of contact for CTTEC regarding the disclosed technology.

If a Creator has a current Andrew UserID, the system will pull information from the CMU Directory and add it to the form. (There is a link to the CMU Directory within the form if you need to look up a Creator’s Andrew ID.) You may then provide additional information, such as their preferred name, pronouns, and preferred contact information.

If a Creator doesn’t have a current Andrew ID, the preparer will have to provide their legal name and email address.

No. Anyone can complete the form. All of the listed Creators will receive a copy of the initial submission to CTTEC. CTTEC will follow up with all CMU Creators and send a copy of the disclosure through DocuSign for their signature.

Please make sure that the Creators’ percent contributions equal exactly 100%. Contributions can be entered up to two decimal places, eg. 33.33, 33.33, and 33.34. Before submitting, you may check your entries on the review page.

While this information is not required prior to submission, CTTEC must have this information before the technology can be licensed. It is never required if you are providing your code under a permissive open source license.

Yes!  While a disclosure is in draft, all Creators can edit the form - though be sure to coordinate with your collaborators so only one person is making changes at a time! If more than one user is editing the form, whomever saves their work first will overwrite any other user’s changes in progress.  

Additionally, you may add people who are not Creators as Subscribers to the IP Disclosure. Subscribers can’t edit the form, but are able to comment on the disclosure by adding remarks; and they are also able to upload documents. For example, you may wish to include a Research Administrator, Lab Manager, or Department Business Manager to review your form, provide funding information, or upload a paper.

Creators and Subscribers receive email notifications when a new remark has been added or when the disclosure has been submitted or acted upon by the CTTEC team.

Please ensure the correct email is used and follow up with them. If they haven’t received the email with the link to review the form, please send a request to  CTTEC team  innovation@cmu.edu or resubmit the form.

Yes; however, you will need to use two different browsers or open an incognito tab.

Yes, Attachments can be utilized if needed, but are not required. Upload supporting documents in the Documents section of the Disclosure.  The max file size allowed is 2GB.

Additionally, website links (URLs) can be entered into the“Short Description” text box in the Technology Description section.

The Conception Date should be the earliest date listed in the IP Development section.

Conception is the formation in the mind of the inventor of a definite and permanent idea of the complete and operative invention - all that remains to be accomplished is to reduce the invention to practice, (i.e., to make the invention) without extensive additional research or experimentation.

Because conception is a mental act, it is necessary to provide corroborating evidence from the same time period that would enable one skilled in the art to make the invention. Such corroborating evidence can include a  sketch or a drawing, an enabling written description, and/or the completion of a working model or prototype.  

Please add at least one date in one of these fields in the IP Development section as appropriate (you can add more than one date if known).

No. The system will send the unsigned form to CTTEC. Intake team will process the submission, assign a CMU Reference Number and a Business Development and Licensing Manager, and send the form to the CMU Creators through DocuSign for signature.

After you submit a disclosure, the Creators will receive a confirmation email from innovation@cmu.edu with the online submission form reference number (e.g., INV_2026-0001), the submitted copy of the form, and any attachments.

Within three business days, you should receive an email from CTTEC (innovation@cmu.edu) with the CMU reference number (e.g. 2025-543) assigned to your disclosure and the contact information for the Licensing Manager who will work with you to evaluate your technology and discuss potential IP protection and commercialization.

Once the submission is reviewed by CTTEC, the Creators will receive a receipt of disclosure email from CTTEC (innovation@cmu.edu) with an assigned docket number and a corresponding request for signature via DocuSign.

Submit an online IP disclosure form and follow up with an email to innovation@cmu.edu and the Business Development and Licensing Manager assigned to your department alerting CTTEC of the imminent disclosure. 

Use a clear subject line, include the online reference number and title of your submitted disclosure, and provide as much information as possible: e.g. the nature, location, and timing of the disclosure.

Contact the CTTEC team at innovation@cmu.edu! We’re here to assist you.