Report of Innovation (ROI)

Report your discovery

Assess the patentability and commercial viability of your work

Do you have an idea that might have widespread application? Completing the ROI form is a crucial first step toward protecting your interests and your innovation’s potential.

The link below will allow you to access the Harvard innovation reporting tool using your Harvard credentials.

How it works

Once you have logged in, you will be redirected to the ROI form itself. After supplying some initial information, you’ll receive an email containing your login credentials. Please save this information so that you and your co-contributors and colleagues will be able to access the form as many times as is necessary to complete and submit it.

Once your ROI has been submitted, it will be forwarded to a Director of Business Development who will contact you to coordinate the next steps. Together, we will begin the process of exploring the potential of your research. Note: if you do not receive an acknowledgment from OTD within a few days of submitting your ROI, please contact our office to ensure the submission was received.

What you'll need to get started

Our ROI form requests the minimum amount of information necessary to move your innovation forward. Here is the most essential information that you will need to provide:

• Disclosure date(s): OTD should be aware of all actual and planned publications, presentations, interviews or other means of sharing your idea on a non-confidential basis with those outside of the research team. (Note: Making a public disclosure before patent filing may jeopardize our ability to protect your IP.)
• Contributor(s): All researchers who collaborated on the project should be listed with their contact information. This helps us to determine the primary contributing individuals/institutions.
• Funding source(s): Any and all funding that supported this work should be disclosed to determine if Harvard must meet any obligations to sponsors, such as to report your progress, offer a license or share commercialization costs and revenues.

NOTE: While it is important to include the required information in pursuit of completing this form, please do not delay your submission due to a lack of simple, granular information (e.g., an address). These types of details can be collected later in the process, particularly if it is necessary to move your ROI submission along expeditiously for whatever reason. If you need help in any way, please don't hesitate to contact us.