The KwaZulu-Natal Regional Office of Technology Transfer (KZNR-OTT) is an office funded by the National Intellectual Property Management Office (NIPMO) to support technology transfer in four tertiary institutions in the province of KwaZulu-Natal, namely: University of KwaZulu-Natal (UKZN), Mangosuthu University of Technology (MUT), University of Zululand (UZ) and the Durban University of Technology (DUT) (the “Regional Institutions”). The KZNROTT supports the Regional Institutions to identify, protect and commercialise intellectual property that emanate from research and development.
We support our Regional Institutions through offering both operational and strategic support services of technology transfer. Our operational services include case-by-case consultative support throughout the tech transfer value chain, including conducting intellectual property, market and commercial case evaluations for invention or technology disclosures. Afterwards, we offer legal, intellectual property and commercial support to see the inventions or technologies through to successful commercialisation, including drafting and reviewing of transaction specific agreements, as well as compiling business plans for new ventures created.
The strategic role of the KZNROTT includes the creation of partnerships (business and non-business) within triple-helix stakeholders (tertiary institutions, government institutions and industry) in commercialisation of technologies from the Regional Institutions.