Faculty, Researchers & Students
Know the research and technical meaning.
They know what was built, discovered, tested, measured, or proposed—but patent figures are rarely their primary discipline.
Patent-Figure Capability for Universities & Technology Transfer
Help research move from the lab into clearer patent figures.
Give technology-transfer teams, faculty inventors, researchers, students, and patent support professionals access to Training, the Patent Figure Toolkit™, and Support to develop, review, revise, and communicate patent figures as university inventions move toward protection and commercialization.
Across the university innovation process
Technology Transfer
Faculty Inventors
Researchers
Students
Patent Support
The Research-to-Patent Gap
The people who understand the invention best are often farthest from patent drawing production.
University inventions begin with researchers who understand the science, engineering, data, apparatus, process, or system in depth. Technology-transfer professionals must capture that knowledge and move it efficiently toward patent counsel.
The visual material in between may be a lab sketch, publication figure, microscopy image, photograph, CAD export, slide, screenshot, whiteboard drawing, or highly specialized technical diagram.
Technology Transfer & IP
Must translate research into an IP process.
They coordinate disclosures, inventor communication, patent strategy, outside counsel, deadlines, budgets, and commercialization activity across many technologies.
Patent Counsel & Professional Drafting
Turn technical instructions into patent-ready work.
They bring legal and specialized drafting expertise, but their work depends on receiving understandable technical source material and timely inventor feedback.
Where Friction Appears
Research visuals were usually created for a different purpose.
A publication figure contains too much or too little detail.
A photograph or microscopy image needs a clean line representation.
A CAD model communicates the device but not the patent concept clearly.
An inventor describes an alternative embodiment after figures are already underway.
A TTO must explain technical corrections across inventor, counsel, and drafting handoffs.
The Opportunity
Create a practical visual working layer between research and patent preparation.
Universities can help inventors communicate more clearly, give TTO teams more control over routine figure work, and provide outside counsel with better technical source material.
Where Capability Helps
Support the invention before, during, and after the patent handoff.
University capability is not about turning researchers into patent illustrators. It is about making technical ideas easier to capture, refine, review, and transfer.
Invention Disclosure
Make technical concepts easier to understand.
Develop clearer diagrams from sketches, screenshots, photographs, CAD, publication graphics, experimental setups, and other source material.
Inventor Interviews
Work visually while the invention is being explained.
Use editable diagrams to clarify components, relationships, sequences, alternatives, and embodiments during inventor discussions.
Patent Preparation
Provide better source material to counsel.
Prepare useful working diagrams and figure concepts that help patent professionals understand the invention more quickly.
Inventor Review
Communicate corrections visually.
Make it easier for researchers to identify technical errors and demonstrate changes without relying entirely on written revision instructions.
Education & Reuse
Build knowledge that survives one matter.
Retain editable resources, templates, and practical skills that can support future disclosures, new researchers, clinics, courses, and innovation programs.
Important Boundary
The goal isn't to move everything in-house. It's to make the allocation of patent-figure work more intentional.
Build enough capability to improve invention communication, handle appropriate work directly, and use professional patent drawing assistance when it is the better resource.
The IP DaVinci Patent Figure System™
A practical figure system for research and technology-transfer environments.
IP DaVinci brings Training, the Patent Figure Toolkit™, and Support together so university participants can develop and apply patent-figure capability at the level their role requires.
Training
Develop the capability.
Learn through the Learning Portal and Live Training across Patent Figure Standards, Visio Skills for Patent Figures, Patent Figure Creation Methods, and Other Patent Figure Methods.
Patent Figure Toolkit™
Apply the capability.
Use templates, stencils, and productivity resources designed for practical patent-figure work in Microsoft Visio.
Support
Get additional help.
Use Live Clinics, One-on-One Support, and IP DaVinci Studio when additional guidance or professional patent drawing assistance is useful.
One Connected System
Training + Patent Figure Toolkit™ + Support → University Patent-Figure Capability
Microsoft Visio is the primary working environment in which participants apply the System to appropriate editable patent-figure work.
What the University Can Receive
Flexible access to Training, working resources, and Support.
01Learning Portal
Self-paced Training for continuing capability development.
02Live Training
Instructor-led learning around defined patent-figure topics and methods.
03Patent Figure Toolkit™
Templates, stencils, and productivity resources for recurring work.
04Live Clinics & One-on-One Support
Additional guidance when users need help applying the capability.
05IP DaVinci Studio
Professional patent drawing assistance when it is the better resource.
Across the University
Give each participant the capability appropriate to the role.
A university patent ecosystem may involve a central TTO, faculty, research staff, graduate students, legal operations, entrepreneurship programs, engineering schools, and outside counsel. They do not all need the same training.
Technology Transfer & IP Staff
Workflow capability.
- Review and revise figure concepts
- Clarify inventor instructions
- Prepare cleaner counsel handoffs
- Manage reusable figure resources
Faculty & Research Inventors
Technical communication capability.
- Explain inventions visually
- Develop cleaner source diagrams
- Review technical accuracy
- Communicate alternatives and corrections
Students & Research Staff
Practical visual skills.
- Prepare editable technical diagrams
- Convert source material into useful visuals
- Support research-group figure work
- Develop transferable IP communication skills
TTO & Innovation Leadership
Institutional capability.
- Improve invention-disclosure quality
- Reduce avoidable handoff friction
- Support researchers consistently
- Build reusable institutional know-how
Implementation Principle
Researchers need enough capability to communicate. TTO teams need enough capability to coordinate. Professional patent drawing assistance remains available when it is the better resource.
Patent Counsel Collaboration
Give outside counsel a clearer view of what the researchers mean.
The goal is not to replace patent counsel. It is to improve the technical and visual information that reaches counsel and make inventor feedback easier to communicate.
Typical Handoff
Research is translated repeatedly.
01Researcher explains the invention
02TTO translates the disclosure
03Counsel interprets source material
04Drafting converts instructions into figures
05Inventor corrections travel back through the chain
Capability-Enabled Handoff
Researchers and TTO can communicate visually earlier.
01Technical intent is captured more clearly
02Editable source figures can travel with the disclosure
03Counsel receives better-defined visual information
04Professional drafting focuses on work where that expertise adds value
05Inventor revisions can be shown more precisely
Clear Boundary
Patent strategy, legal drafting, prosecution, and professional drawing judgment remain with the professionals responsible for them.
Keep the Capability
Research knowledge and editable working figures can remain with the university.
Universities may work with different outside counsel, professional drawing resources, inventors, departments, and research teams over time. The university does not have to give up its own visual working capability when those participants change.
Working Knowledge
Keep technical context connected to the matter.
Editable working figures can preserve visual decisions, relationships, and technical understanding developed during the patent process.
Reusable Resources
Keep useful methods available.
Training, Toolkit resources, and established working methods can support future disclosures rather than disappearing with one matter or provider.
Institutional Continuity
Maintain capability as external relationships change.
Outside counsel can change without requiring the university to give up its own visual working capability.
Institutional Continuity
Researchers + TTO + Editable Working Files + IP DaVinci → Capability That Can Remain With the University
Beyond Individual Patent Matters
Patent-figure capability can also support education and innovation programs.
Universities have a unique opportunity: the same practical capability that supports current inventions can also prepare researchers and students to communicate future inventions more effectively.
Researcher Development
Teach better visual invention communication.
Help faculty, postdocs, researchers, and graduate students understand how technical source material can be adapted for patent work.
Engineering & Design Programs
Add practical IP communication skills.
Introduce students to editable technical diagrams and patent-figure workflows as part of innovation, design, capstone, or entrepreneurship activity.
Clinics & Entrepreneurship
Support invention-focused programs.
Give participants working methods for communicating systems, processes, devices, and alternatives as ideas move toward commercialization.
New Inventor Onboarding
Make patent preparation less mysterious.
Give first-time university inventors a practical introduction to what patent figures do and how they can contribute useful source material.
Implementation
Start with one office, research group, or recurring invention workflow.
A university does not need institution-wide adoption to test the model. Begin where invention volume, figure complexity, researcher engagement, or recurring revision work makes the opportunity visible.
Assess
Map the current handoffs.
Review how researchers, TTO staff, counsel, and drafting resources currently exchange visual information.
Select
Choose a useful pilot boundary.
Select one TTO team, research center, engineering group, inventor cohort, or recurring workflow.
Launch
Build practical capability.
Provide role-appropriate access to Training, Patent Figure Toolkit™ resources, and Support.
Apply
Use real invention work.
Develop capability around actual disclosures and figure tasks rather than abstract software exercises.
Expand
Reuse what proves valuable.
Extend useful practices to additional inventors, departments, research programs, or TTO workflows.
Good Pilot Boundaries
Start where the university already has a natural group.
01Technology-transfer office
02Engineering department
03Research center or lab group
04Inventor or commercialization program
Institutional Value
Improve patent workflow while building capability that remains at the university.
The value is not limited to the cost of an individual drawing. Universities can improve inventor support, strengthen handoffs, preserve reusable resources, and build practical IP knowledge across research communities.
Inventor Support
Make participation easier for researchers.
Give inventors a clearer way to explain and review the visual parts of their inventions.
TTO Efficiency
Reduce avoidable translation work.
Help technology-transfer teams coordinate figure information with greater clarity and control.
Reusable Knowledge
Retain skills and editable resources.
Templates, methods, and working assets can support future disclosures rather than disappearing with one external transaction.
Researcher Education
Develop a transferable innovation skill.
Researchers and students learn practical visual communication methods they can carry into future research, startups, and industry.
The Strategic Difference
Each patent matter can produce not only an application, but a more capable research and technology-transfer community.
Ways to Start
Choose a starting model that fits the institution.
Begin with a TTO workflow discussion, a focused pilot, a department or researcher program, or broader university capability.
Explore
University Patent Figure Briefing
Review how invention visuals currently move among researchers, technology transfer, counsel, and drafting resources.
- Map current handoffs
- Identify recurring friction
- Review likely user groups
- Define a practical pilot
Pilot
University Capability Pilot
Test the System with a TTO team, research group, department, or inventor cohort using real figure workflows.
- Focused participant group
- Real invention work
- Training + Patent Figure Toolkit™ + Support
- Evaluation before expansion
Implement
University Patent Figure Capability
Provide structured access to Training, Patent Figure Toolkit™ resources, and Support across selected university communities.
- TTO and IP teams
- Researchers and inventors
- Departments or research centers
- Ongoing onboarding and education
IP DaVinci for Universities
Help researchers communicate inventions more clearly—and help technology transfer move them forward.
Build practical patent-figure capability where research knowledge originates, while using patent counsel and professional patent drawing assistance where their expertise is the better resource.
Research KnowledgeKeep technical meaning close to the people who created it.
+University IP CapabilityCapture, review, and communicate figure work more effectively.
+Patent ExpertiseUse counsel and professional drafting where specialized expertise adds value.