Licensing Process

Dara Williams, of A.J. Tuck, and Robert Wagner, ORNL associate laboratory director for Energy Science and Technology, shake hands in a licensing ceremony during ORNL Materials and Manufacturing Innovation Days at the Manufacturing Demonstration Facility.

ORNL’s Technology Transfer program focuses on partnering with industry and academic institutions to ensure ORNL-developed technologies become successfully commercialized products and services.

Our commercialization managers can help you evaluate which of our available technologies is best suited to your interests and capabilities.

Once you have identified your interests, your commercialization plan and license application will help our staff evaluate your readiness to advance the technology through development to market.

Resources

DOE Licensing Guide

DOE Partnership Guide

Contact Partnerships Office

Successful negotiations culminate in the signing of an executable license agreement between your organization and ORNL. Nondisclosure, material transfer, cooperative research and development, and strategic partnership agreements protect all parties’ interests.

As a federal facility, ORNL cannot draft license agreements that include partners’ trade secrets or intellectual property. Licenses are executed according to a technology’s intended use or anticipated market, can be exclusive or nonexclusive, and can include sublicensing rights if you intend to work with third parties.

Licensing Process Steps

1. Identify Technology of Interest

  • Browse our available technologies
  • Send info request to commercialization manager

2. Evaluate Opportunity

  • Conduct technical discussions with Tech Transfer and researchers
  • Enter info disclosure agreement (if needed to facilitate in-depth discussion)

3. Submit License Application

  • Provide your organization’s business plan
  • Provide commercialization plan for technology of interesterest
Researchers from ORNL’s Isotope Processing and Manufacturing Division pose for a staff photo related to nickel-63 production on February 4, 2026.

4. Review Application

  • Determine partner readiness to commercialization technology
    • Expertise
    • Capital
    • Market knowledge
  • Prepare patent and/or copyright portfolio for planned products
Luiz Leal and Jesse Brown stand in a conference room at Oak Ridge National Laboratory with research data displayed on two monitors behind them.

5. Negotiate Terms

  • Draw up term sheet addressing financial terms
    • Fees
    • Reimbursements
    • Royalty payments
  • Draft plan to identify development path and marketing efforts
Cynthia Jenks, associate laboratory director for the Physical Sciences Directorate at Oak Ridge National Laboratory, left; David Goodloe, director of Branch Technology’s Branch Regenerate business unit, center; and Robert Wagner, ORNL associate laboratory director for the Energy Science and Technology Directorate, sign a licensing agreement Wednesday, Aug. 19, 2026, during Materials and Manufacturing Innovation Days, or M2IND, at ORNL.

6. Execute License

  • Draft executable license agreement for partner review
  • Obtain signatures for all parties, payment for applicable execution fees
  • Hold licensing ceremony upon partner request