University of Utah Technology Licensing Office

Summary

The University of Utah Technology Licensing Office (TLO) is the university's front door for invention disclosure, intellectual-property protection, licensing to industry, and faculty/researcher startup formation. It is the office formerly known as the PIVOT Center (and, before that, Technology & Venture Commercialization / Tech Transfer). For any University of Utah researcher trying to turn a discovery into a license or a company, this is the required institutional path — not an optional accelerator.

The office publishes a faculty commercialization guide, an available-technologies portal for industry partners, and events (I-Corps cohorts, Tech Tuesdays). Contact: 801.581.7792; 303 Chipeta Way, #14, Salt Lake City, UT 84108.

Who It's For

• University of Utah faculty, staff researchers, postdocs, and students with a discovery, software, data asset, device, therapeutic, or other potentially protectable work
• External companies and investors seeking to license U of U technologies or partner on sponsored research that may generate IP
• Founders of U of U spinouts who need the licensing and startup-formation path clarified before fundraising

Not a fit for BYU, USU, or other-campus inventors (use that campus's tech-transfer office), or for Main Street businesses with no university IP.

How To Use It

1. Disclose early. Contact the TLO before public presentation, thesis deposit, preprint, or conference talk that could count as a public disclosure. Call 801.581.7792 or use the contact form on https://technologylicensing.utah.edu/
2. Read the faculty guide. The office publishes a Faculty Commercialization Guide covering disclosure through licensing and startup formation.
3. Work the licensing path. The office manages patent prosecution, market assessment, and license negotiation — either to an existing company or into a new spinout.
4. Connect to the rest of the stack. After disclosure/licensing is underway, Utah deep-tech founders often next use Nucleus MarketEdge (market discovery), Altitude Labs (wet-lab residency), Nucleus Grow / UTIF (SBIR), and Nucleus Fund (equity). See Commercialize Research in Utah.

Best Fits

Best for U of U inventors who need the institutional IP door opened before talking to investors. The AUTM 2025 survey rankings the university publicizes (top-10 placements in disclosures, licenses executed, copyright licenses, new licensed technologies, and gross license income) are useful context for partners, but a founder should treat them as ecosystem signals — not as a substitute for contacting the office about their specific invention.

Open Questions

• What is the current median time from disclosure to first licensing conversation, and how does it vary by college?
• How should agents distinguish "PIVOT Center" references still scattered across wiki and press from the current TLO branding without confusing inventors?
• Which companion programs (U2TAH Therapeutic Accelerator Hub, Lassonde, Center for Medical Innovation) have a formal intake handoff from the TLO versus a parallel path?

Evidence

• Official Website: University of Utah Technology Licensing Office · https://technologylicensing.utah.edu/
• @theU announcement of the PIVOT → Technology Licensing Office rename · https://attheu.utah.edu/announcements/welcome-to-the-technology-licensing-office/
• Faculty Commercialization Guide · https://technologylicensing.utah.edu/inventors/faculty-commercialization-guide

See Also

• Altitude Labs
• Nucleus Institute
• Commercialize Research in Utah
• Huntsman Cancer Institute
• Where to Find Wet Lab Space in Utah