Evaluation of Computer Software Guidelines

Function:

Technology Transfer - Evaluation

Procedure

Related Policies and Guidance: SUNY Patents and Inventions Policy; Guidelines for the Administration of Industrial Relationships;

Contact:

Matthew Mroz

Office of Innovation and Partnerships

(518) 434-7061

Background

These Guidelines for the Evaluation of Software are intended to support high-quality, focused and efficient service to the SUNY research community. Technology Transfer (TT) professionals from across the system that have experience in evaluating software technology have collaborated to produce these guidelines. The RF makes these guidelines available to help administrators evaluate software invention disclosures and assess the marketability of the disclosed software technology. These guidelines are a living document that will be modified based on user experience and further aligned to meet best practices adopted by SUNY’s technology transfer professionals.

Guidelines and Recommendations

The initial step to assessing the marketability of any software invention requires a thorough review of the resources utilized to develop the software invention submitted by faculty.

This review can be conducted by employing the following mechanisms based on local preference:

  1. An understanding of where the code related to the software invention originated from.
  2. An understanding of the circumstances that led to the development of the subject invention.
  3. An understanding of what the software invention does.
  4. Whether or not the software invention incorporates Open Source or other third party software.
  5. Whether or not the right to use the code related to the software invention has been provided to any person or organization that is not part of SUNY or the RF.
  6. An understanding of all of the individuals who were involved in writing the code for the software invention.
  7. A flowchart diagramming the process steps the software uses to solve the given problem.
  8. Whether or not any non-software knowledge resources were used in the developing the software technology (e.g., subject matter experts, scientific or engineering literature).
  9. Whether or not the software invention incorporates any linked content made available through a web portal.

    The responses to the questions and inquiries above will enable TT professionals to understand the extent to the RF’s ownership and control over the software technology that is being disclosed. Further, depending on the information provided by the lead creator or inventor of the software technology, the TT professional will help identify the barriers and constraints, if any, that the RF will have to consider when developing the software technology’s commercialization strategy with the development team.

Forms

RF Software Technology Addendum

Change History

Date

Summary of Change

March 1, 2017

New Document