Submit an Invention Disclosure  

Invention disclosures can only be submitted to NAU Innovations through an online process. By clicking on the link at the bottom of this page, you will be redirected to the Sophia Knowledge Management System (“Sophia”), a web-based application used by NAU Innovations to manage the commercialization process for university-owned intellectual property.

By submitting an invention disclosure through Sophia, you alert NAU Innovations that you have developed or discovered something that may have commercial value. Your submitted disclosure will undergo initial screening to determine:

(a) does NAU have an ownership interest in the discovery?

(b) does the discovery constitute reportable Intellectual Property?*

After this initial screening, you will be contacted by NAU Innovations staff to discuss next steps. 

(*reportable to ABOR and/or to the U.S. government, if the discovery was fully or partially funded through a federal grant or contract)

What you will need:

 

When you are ready to begin the online disclosure process in Sophia, have the following information readily available:

 

• A title for your discovery or invention (“invention”)
• The (actual or approximate) date that the idea was first conceived
• The date of the first public disclosure of your invention, if applicable (e.g., if you have presented a poster, published an article, made an oral presentation, etc.)
• The (actual or approximate) date that the invention was first demonstrated, if applicable
• Names and e-mail addresses of all individuals who participated in the development of the invention (including students and researchers at other institutions, if applicable)
• Name(s) of sponsor(s) whose funding supported the development of the invention, if applicable

Sophia allows you to upload electronic files that are relevant to the disclosure.  Such files include (but are not limited to) manuscripts or journal articles, illustrations, videos, etc.

Have these files readily available to upload if you believe they will be useful in helping NAU Innovations evaluate the invention.

Logging onto Sophia:

 In order to gain access to Sophia, use your NAU Logon ID, not your e-mail username (i.e., the Logon ID for john.smith@nau.edu  is js337, not John.smith). Your password will be the password that you use to gain access to your NAU e-mail and other NAU systems.

NOTE:  If you are unable to log onto Sophia with your NAU ID, please contact Crystal Diaz at 928.523.9314 or crystal.diaz@nau.edu.

 

Once you have access to Sophia, locate the “New Disclosures” link to the right of the screen in the Tasks box.  Click on this link to begin the disclosure.

 

 

In the “Researchers” section of the disclosure, it is not necessary to indicate a percent of contribution.  This section will be completed by NAU Innovations staff.

  

 

The disclosure form is automatically saved each time you press the “Next” button at the bottom of each page.   You can return to an “In Progress” disclosure as follows: 

1. Log into Sophia through the link at the bottom of this page.
2. In the purple section at the top of the Inventor Home Page, click on “Settings”
3. About half-way down the page you will see Disclosures listed.  Click on the Disclosure Number that represents the document that you wish to edit.

We recommend that you print this page as a reference to assist you while completing your on-line disclosure.

If you have any questions about the Sophia Knowledge Management System, please contact Crystal Diaz at 928-523-9314. 

If you have questions about the content of the disclosure, please contact Timothy Vail at 928-523-5311.

Remember:  When logging into Sophia, you must use the same NAU logon ID and password that you use on the NAU Central Authentication Site (CAS).