Memorial Innovatory FAQs

Memorial Innovatory can work with employees and industry at any step of the invention process. We welcome any well-developed idea for a product or service that may provide a unique solution to a problem in healthcare or healthcare administration. You don’t need a prototype or business plan to engage with Innovatory.

Find out more about our criteria for an invention.

We work with a wide variety of ideas that have the potential to improve efficiency, safety or outcomes in healthcare or healthcare administration. Most inventions we develop are medical devices, health information technology, therapeutics and diagnostics, and clinical or business know-how.

The first step is to submit an Invention Disclosure Form. If you have questions, contact us.

It doesn’t cost you anything out of pocket to work with us. If our team determines that the idea or invention has a good chance of success, we cover the costs to move the idea forward. Expenses may include legal fees, patent application fees, marketing costs, etc.

Eventual profits are generally divided as follows: 

• 45 percent of profits to the inventor
• 55 percent of profits to Memorial Healthcare System

In some cases, Innovatory may recommend licensing the intellectual property to a newly formed company. In this case, the financial terms may involve an equity stake as well.

The length of the invention process varies depending on several factors. Examples include how well-developed the idea is at the beginning and the project’s complexity. Even with a well-developed idea and a clear market need, receiving financial compensation can take several years.

Many inventors spend their savings and many years trying to develop an idea independently. Common reasons for failure include lack of resources and errors due to lack of expertise.

When you work with us, we provide expertise at every stage of the process to prevent mistakes. We also assume all the financial risk by covering the costs of research, development, legal fees and patent application.

Learn more about the expertise we provide at each stage and what we do with your idea.

We may decide not to develop the idea further at any time along the invention journey. Potential reasons include discovering a similar invention, receiving negative feedback from the patent application process or determining that there isn’t a significant enough market need.

If we decide not to pursue an idea, we return all ownership and intellectual property rights to the inventor. The inventor is then free to pursue other options.

Memorial Healthcare System owns intellectual property that its employees discover, create or develop as part of their work. Therefore, you should consult the Innovatory team first.