Turning research into new ventures
UVic Express License Program
Key facts
Express License introduced by UVic Industry Partnerships
Set Terms - nothing to negotiate
research-term improvements inlcuded
Exclusive rights to sell and sublicense globally
Why the Express License?
Launching a research-based company is challenging enough without spending months negotiating licensing terms.
The program was developed with input from founders, investors, legal experts, and members of the research community to create a practical pathway that supports emerging ventures while safeguarding the university's research and educational objectives.
Every clause has already been negotiated once — between UVic, outside counsel, and the founders and investors who helped shape it. A new spin-off isn't negotiating royalty rates or equity terms from scratch; it's adopting a framework that's already balanced and already understood by the investors who will eventually look at the company's cap table. Skipping that negotiation doesn't just save legal bills — it removes a source of delay at the exact moment a young company can least afford one.
Program benefits
- Faster access to UVic intellectual property
- Reduced legal and administrative burden
- Greater certainty for founders and investors
- Clear commercialization expectations from the outset
- Consistent treatment across qualifying UVic spin-offs
- More time and resources devoted to building the business
How it works
Four steps from disclosure to signature. Most of the work is yours — the licensing part is already written.
- Disclose - Report the invention through UVic's innovation and technology transfer process, so the university can confirm what it is free to license.
- Qualify - Incorporate in Canada and submit a commercialization plan covering ownership, development objectives, funding strategy and milestones.
- Sign - Execute the standard agreement. The terms are fixed and published in advance — there is nothing to negotiate clause by clause.
- Build - Raise, hire and ship — with future improvements from the research team folding in automatically for five years.
What the license gives you
An exclusive, worldwide right to use and sublicense the technology to build and sell products, plus non-exclusive access to the know-how needed to make it work in practice. Ownership of the patents stays with the University; UVic keeps only a narrow, non-commercial carve-out for teaching and research.
Improvements made by the originating research team within five years of signing fold in automatically, at no extra fee. Anything the company invents on its own belongs to the company outright.
Royalties, equity participation, sublicensing revenue share, patent cost sharing and annual fees are all fixed in the standard agreement and identical for every qualifying spin-off — so founders and investors can model the cost of the licence before the first conversation. The published figures are in the Program Guide.
Do you qualify?
A spin-off is a newly established business created to commercialize intellectual property originating from UVic research — typically founded by the people who worked on the technology.
All five criteria must be met. Participation in university entrepreneurship or venture development programs may count as evidence of commercialization readiness. If you are unsure where your technology sits, talk to UIP before incorporating.
Eligibility criteria
- It was established primarily to commercialize intellectual property created through research at UVic.
- The intellectual property has been formally disclosed through UVic's innovation and technology transfer process.
- The university has the right to license it, free of conflicting ownership, existing licences or live third-party negotiations.
- The company is incorporated within Canada.
- The founding team submits an acceptable commercialization plan — ownership structure, development objectives, funding strategy, milestones.
Bring us your technology
Contact UVic Industry Partnerships Inc. to discuss your technology, company plans and eligibility — or read the Program Guide for the full licensing framework and published terms.