Now it's easier to get your hands on Los Alamos innovations

The nuclear research facility that developed smart cards that use quantum mechanics-based security coding and software that can suss out synergies in an organization's structure is making some of its technology easier to license commercially.

The Los Alamos National Laboratory has launched its "Express Licensing" program, which gives local entrepreneurs as well as national collaborators access to innovative technology invented at the lab. The new licensing alternative was announced by the lab's Technology Transfer Division on Aug. 1.

The Express Licensing program is the first of several new initiatives under development by the Technology Transfer Division aimed at streamlining access for potential partners and customers.

"The primary goal of our first new commercialization initiative, the Express Licensing program, is to provide easy access to Los Alamos technologies and expedite the licensing process," Licensing Manager Laura Barber said in a statement. "This program will provide an accelerated, streamlined process for non-exclusive licensing of patents and software at LANL, with favorable, pre-established terms that eliminate time-consuming negotiations. Many of the software packages are freely available as either executable downloads or open-source software and may be accessed online with the click of a mouse."

According to David Pesiri, director of LANL's Technology Transfer Division, faster, easier access to LANL technologies accelerates the speed with which Los Alamos innovations get into the hands of experts in the marketplace, which is its broader goal.

Although preference goes to U.S. companies and there is a requirement for substantial manufacturing of licensed products and methods within the United States, LANL didn't rule out working with foreign entities.

LANL's first pilot program offers 20 issued patents and 15 software packages through the Express Licensing program, but those same patents and software packages are also available through the lab's partnerships with  online intellectual property clearinghouses such as Flintbox and AutoHarvest, and the U.S. Department of Energy's Innovation Portal.