Company research-and-development officials have a new and convenient way to tap into technology developed by UCLA's cadre of top-flight researchers.

As part of a program designed to speed the transfer of technology to the marketplace, UCLA's Office of Intellectual Property Administration now offers company officials the chance to receive e-mail notification of the latest licensing opportunities born in campus research labs.

Research-and-development executives from several hundred companies now subscribe to the "HiddenGems" announcements, which can be catered to meet specific research interests.  The companies are leaders in a wide range of industries including biotechnology, defense, pharmaceuticals, semiconductors, telecommunications, chemicals, nanotechnology, venture capital and investment banking.

To sign up for "HiddenGems" e-mail notifications, go to the UCLA Office of Intellectual Property Administration Web site at www.research.ucla.edu/oipa and click on HiddenGems. Additional information also is available by contacting the office's marketing manager, Bob Nidever, at (310) 794-0607 or bnidever@ucla.edu.

"The HiddenGems e-mail notifications provide easy access to UCLA inventions and discoveries that have been thoroughly reviewed and specifically prepared for use by those in the private sector," said Andrew Neighbour, associate vice chancellor for research

UCLA researchers have a long history of producing technology with commercial applications. The Office of Intellectual Property Administration manages more than 700 active inventions, and more than 160 are licensed to companies. In 2003 alone, UCLA received 68 U.S. and foreign patents. UCLA receives more than $750 million a year in research contracts and federal and state grants and consistently ranks among the top five universities and colleges nationwide in total research-and-development expenditures.

The Office of Intellectual Property reorganized in 2002 to enhance the transfer of discoveries for commercial purposes. Staff with research-and-development experience in private industry was added to form liaisons with campus faculty and research labs and search for previously unannounced new technologies — the "hidden gems."

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