How to complete your Intellectual Property and Commercialisation report
We require organisations to complete an Intellectual Property and Commercialisation report once a year. Find out who needs to complete the report and how to fill out each section.
What is an intellectual property and commercialisation report
We need organisations to complete an intellectual property and commercialisation report once a year. This report covers the intellectual property and commercial activities at your organisation during the reporting period. The reporting period is the calendar year from 1 January to 31 December.
This report captures:
- Wellcome-funded intellectual property at your organisation
- commercialisation of this intellectual property through commercial agreements
- revenue or ownership in a company you have gained as a result of commercial agreements using Wellcome-funded intellectual property
For information about Wellcome’s approach to intellectual property, including what we mean by intellectual property and commercialisation, and why we ask for this report, read our policies:
Confidentiality statement
Where a party discloses information about intellectual property creation and/or commercialisation activities to the other party in this report or otherwise, the receiving party will keep such information confidential. ‘Information’ includes but is not limited to any data, results, inventions, intended publications, intended or pending patent applications, designs, plans, agreements, commercial and/or financial information, whether disclosed in writing or verbally. ‘Information’ does not include information which is available to the public, is otherwise lawfully known to the receiving party at the time of being disclosed, is obtained lawfully from a third party or independently developed by the receiving party, or which needs to be disclosed to comply with a legal requirement.
The parties acknowledge that the information contained in this report may be information which the parties reasonably consider is exempt from disclosure under the Freedom of Information Act 2000 on the basis that it is confidential and/or commercially sensitive information, which if disclosed without the prior consent of the party to which the information relates, would, or would be likely to, prejudice the commercial interests of that party.
Wellcome may disclose relevant data to co-funders (under appropriate confidentiality restrictions) and may publish aggregated data.
Who should report
The administering organisation on any Wellcome award is responsible for reporting to Wellcome, unless bespoke arrangements apply.
If your organisation needs to submit an intellectual property and commercialisation report, we will contact you in advance.
The report must be completed by the appropriate person or people at the technology transfer or research office or any other appropriate central function at your organisation. It will not be sent to individual researchers.
Steps to complete your report
1. Join your organisation’s workspace on Wellcome Funding
You must complete your report online on the Wellcome Funding platform. Only an intellectual property reporter in your organisation’s workspace can fill in and submit it. Administrators can add new team members to the workspace if needed.
If an intellectual property reporter does not already exist, organisation approvers for your organisation’s workspace will receive an invitation allowing the relevant people at your organisation to set up accounts and join the workspace.
2. Complete the report online
Fill in all sections that apply to your organisation
You must report on intellectual property and commercial activities from:
- all active Wellcome-funded awards at your organisation; and
- awards that are no longer active but where intellectual property is still being developed.
Intellectual property reporters can access and edit the report at the same time. They cannot edit the same section of the report at the same time.
Awards that do not always need to be included in your report
If your organisation has a legacy Wellcome Translational Partnership Award (TPA), you only need to report activities resulting from research-focused funding within your Translational Partnership Awards and where:
- Wellcome’s cumulative contribution through a project is above £10,000 (excluding VAT); or
- your organisation has generated more than £10,000 (excluding VAT) in annual revenue in the calendar year being reported.
For example:
- project seed funding above £10,000 (excluding VAT) should be reported, but educational or training efforts do not need to be reported
- if a project has received £5,000 in Year 1 and £8,000 in Year 2, this should be reported after Year 2 as the total funding of £13,000 exceeds the cumulative threshold of £10,000.
If your organisation has received funding from Wellcome Leap, this is managed directly by Wellcome Leap and is not part of Wellcome’s processes or this Intellectual Property and Commercialisation report. You should contact Wellcome Leap about any reporting and exclude this from your report to Wellcome.
Where our Innovations team funded Research and Development projects – through either a bespoke funding agreement or a convertible loan (rather than on Wellcome’s standard grant conditions) – the specific provisions negotiated for that project will apply.
The protection and management of Wellcome-funded intellectual property may be overseen by an intellectual property management group and Wellcome’s prior consent to the commercialisation may be required, as stated in your award conditions. The revenue share due to Wellcome may be different to the default 25%, but your organisation can still apply to keep it through the ‘Revenue Retention Request’ part of the report. You must include these awards in your Intellectual Property and Commercialisation report.
Submit your answers to complete your report
After you have filled in all sections that apply to your organisation and marked them complete:
- you will be able to submit your answers. They cannot be edited after this
- after submitting your answers you must download the declaration form which needs to be signed and uploaded on your organisation’s letterhead
- if applicable, you will then be able to fill in and submit a revenue retention request
3. Submit a revenue retention request
You can apply to keep Wellcome’s share of revenue your organisation has received in the year covered by an intellectual property and commercialisation report. We call this revenue retention.
How to complete each section of the report
Inventions and related patent applications
We require information about any invention disclosures during the reporting period or related patent applications that use any Wellcome-funded intellectual property, in whole or in part.
If the patent is part of a patent family, you must only add information for the invention disclosure once, and provide details of the patent family and details of all the awards that have contributed to the Wellcome-funded intellectual property in the patent family.
- Wellcome grant references of any contributing projects
- references used to identify each invention at your organisation
- full names of each inventor
- invention titles for invention disclosures
- patent family titles, application numbers and priority dates for patent applications (if applicable)
Granted patents
We require information about any patents granted during the reporting period that use any Wellcome-funded intellectual property, in whole or in part.
If the granted patent is part of a patent family, you will only need to add information for the patent family, including details of:
- all the awards that have contributed to the Wellcome-funded intellectual property in the patent family
- a title to describe the patent family
- all of the patent numbers in the patent family
You must also update the status of your patents, for example, if a patent is no longer active. You can change the status of a patent, including for a patent you have told us about in previous reports, to explain the reason that it is no longer active and the date that this happened.
- Wellcome grant references of any contributing projects
- references used to identify each patent at your organisation
- full names of each inventor
- patent family titles, numbers and priority dates
- whether each patent is licensed
- patent status, for example: active or expired
- date patent protection stopped and a description of why (if applicable)
Intellectual property (excluding patents)
We require information about other intellectual property (excluding patents) generated during the reporting period that uses any Wellcome-funded intellectual property, in whole or in part.
This includes the type of intellectual property, such as:
- copyright
- commercialisable databases
- design rights
- know-how
- materials
- software
- trademarks
You must also provide a short description of its purpose and what it can be used for.
- Wellcome grant references of any contributing projects
- references used to identify each intellectual property item at your organisation
- full names of each Wellcome-funded creator
- full names of all other creators
- types of each intellectual property for example: copyright or software
- description of the intellectual property
Commercial agreements
We require information about any commercial agreements you have made during the reporting period that use any Wellcome-funded intellectual property, in whole or in part. Refer to our intellectual property policy for more information.
Examples include agreements such as licences, assignments, material transfer agreements over £10,000 (excluding VAT), evaluation agreements and spin-out companies.
You do not need to report confidentiality agreements, or material transfer agreements with payments below £10,000 (excluding VAT) in annual revenue. Other individual agreements with payments below £10,000 (excluding VAT) relating to anything else should be reported.
We also require information about when a commercial agreement is no longer active. You can change the status of a commercial agreement, including one you have told us about in previous reports, to explain the reason that it is no longer active and the date that this happened.
Things to know when filling in this section:
- Wellcome grant references of any contributing projects
- references used to identify each agreement at your organisation
- legal names of counterparties
- type of each commercial agreement
- exclusivity of rights granted
- description of the underlying intellectual property
- effective start date
- signed, unredacted copy of the agreement to upload
- whether revenue sharing terms come from our standard grant conditions or bespoke
- agreement status for example: active or expired
- date agreement ended and a description of why (if applicable)
For each new commercial agreement that you have made using Wellcome’s consent waiver (see our intellectual property policy), you will need to upload a full unredacted copy of the signed agreement, and sign up to Wellcome’s standard Revenue Sharing Terms [PDF 221KB], which will be provided to you in the declaration at the end of the Intellectual Property and Commercialisation report.
On the condition that your organisation provides full, unredacted copies of commercial agreements, Wellcome will allow your organisation to:
- enter into commercial agreements based on intellectual property that comes from any awards made under our standard grant conditions, without asking for written consent beforehand (this is our consent waiver), and
- apply to keep Wellcome's share of any money generated from commercialisation of Wellcome-funded intellectual property at your organisation, up to a maximum of £1 million per year (excluding VAT).
If you do not provide full unredacted copies of commercial agreements, we may remove your organisation’s consent waiver. This means you will need our written consent before entering into agreements based on Wellcome-funded intellectual property. For more information, read our consent and revenue and equity sharing policy, and refer to our confidentiality statement which can be shared with licensees if needed.
Ownership of part or all of a company (equity)
We require information about companies that your organisation owns or partially owns. When your organisation has made a commercial agreement within the reporting period that uses Wellcome-funded intellectual property, you must give us information about the equity that your organisation holds in the company.
We will ask you for information about the total number of shares your organisation has obtained in the company (‘Number of shares obtained’), and what proportion of the total ownership these shares represent.
Things to know when filling in this section:
- Wellcome grant references of any contributing projects
- references used to identify each company at your organisation
- legal company names
- your organisation’s number of shares and percentage ownership
- Wellcome’s number of shares and percentage ownership
- Wellcome’s percentage equity share
- Wellcome’s percentage funding contribution to the intellectual property
- explanation of Wellcome’s funding contribution with a calculation (if less than 100%)
If Wellcome funded all of the intellectual property
We will also ask you to confirm Wellcome’s funding contribution to the intellectual property in the company, which will be 100% if Wellcome was the only funder for the intellectual property in the company. You do not need to explain it.
If Wellcome funded some of the intellectual property
If Wellcome’s contribution is less than 100%, you will need to provide an explanation for this.
For example: Wellcome may have funded only one of three investigators, in which case Wellcome’s contribution would be 33.3%. In your explanation you must include brief details of where the other 66.6% of the funding came from.
We will ask you for information about the total number of shares your organisation has obtained in the company (‘Number of shares obtained’), and what proportion of the total ownership these shares represent.
You will also need to provide a percentage figure for Wellcome’s equity share (‘Wellcome’s share of equity in this company’), which is 25% under standard terms, but may be different if you have agreed bespoke terms with Wellcome.
Amount of shares Wellcome is entitled to is:
‘Number of shares obtained’ by your organisation multiplied by ‘Wellcome's funding contribution’ multiplied by ‘Wellcome’s share of equity in this company’.
We usually expect organisations to hold shares on Wellcome’s behalf when Wellcome is due a share of equity. You will be asked to confirm this in the report.
Case studies (optional)
You may provide a description of up to ten projects in your portfolio, if you would like to highlight the progress or impact of cases under development. This can include cases where:
- you are seeking new protection for Wellcome-funded intellectual property
- you are seeking new commercial opportunities for existing Wellcome-funded intellectual property
- licences have already been agreed, for example post-deal cases
You can use examples or case studies that you have already developed for other organisations, such as the Research Excellence Framework in the UK.
We will ask you to provide a short description of the intellectual property or technology in the case study and what it can be used for. Types of intellectual property could include:
- copyright
- a database
- design rights
- licensable know-how
- materials
- software
- trademarks
Types of technology could be particular products such as therapeutics, preventatives like vaccines, or diagnostics. They could also be social approaches, surveillance measures or digital innovations.
We will also ask you to provide a short description of the expected public benefit and impact of your case study, and how they may advance Wellcome’s charitable mission. We are interested in the journey that the intellectual property has taken and how it is expected to progress, including whether there is any commercial or industry involvement.
- Wellcome grant references of any contributing projects
- references used to identify each case at your organisation
- description of the intellectual property or technology
- description of public benefit through either new commercial opportunities or new protection and commercialisation efforts
- whether there is commercial or industry involvement
Revenue
We require information about each time your organisation has generated revenue from a commercial agreement within the reporting period that uses Wellcome-funded intellectual property. This includes revenue received indirectly by sale of shares in a company you own or partially own which includes Wellcome-funded intellectual property.
We will ask you to confirm whether the revenue sharing agreement that applies to Wellcome-funded intellectual property includes standard terms or whether bespoke terms were negotiated. We will also ask for information about the total income earned by your organisation (‘Money earned (gross income)’) and any deductible costs (‘Direct costs’ and 'Technology Transfer Fees' if applicable).
Things to know when filling in this section:
- Wellcome grant references of any contributing projects.
- references used to identify each revenue transaction at your organisation
- whether the revenue sharing terms are standard or bespoke
- amount of money your organisation has received from each revenue transaction in the reporting period including revenue received indirectly by sale of shares in a company which includes Wellcome-funded intellectual property
- cumulative income for awards with certain bespoke terms where revenue sharing is tiered and depends on total income generated for this agreement
- total direct costs to your organisation
- technology transfer fees for awards with certain bespoke revenue sharing terms amount of revenue payable to Wellcome
You must report only in GBP. You can convert from local currency using a converter such as www.xe.com if you need to, on the date the revenue is received by your organisation.
If your organisation is expecting large revenue amounts, especially relative to its history of translational activities, please let us know as soon as possible, before submitting a request to keep Wellcome’s share of revenue. This will help shape your request to keep the revenue share and reduce the risk of being unsuccessful.
Contact us if you are expecting large amounts of revenue. IPcommercialisation@Wellcome.org
Early discussion of unusually large transactions may allow us to consider whether you need an extended spend period which we may agree to in exceptional circumstances, at our discretion. We reserve the right to:
- enforce limits on amounts kept and spend periods – for example, if we have concerns about an organisation’s ability to use the revenues effectively
- reject exceptionally large amounts (this will depend on what is unusually large for the organisation in question, based on their history of translational activity)
We deduct direct costs from your money earned (gross income) before calculating the amount payable to Wellcome.
These are patent, legal and other costs or expenses charged as a result of commercialising Wellcome-funded intellectual property, such as:
- any applicable taxes
- patent filing costs
- legal costs for defending a patent application
- patent maintenance and renewal fees
We will ask you to confirm Wellcome’s funding contribution to the intellectual property in each transaction.
If Wellcome funded all of the intellectual property in a revenue generating transaction
Enter 100% if Wellcome was the only funder for the intellectual property in the transaction. You do not need to explain it.
If Wellcome funded some of the intellectual property in a revenue generating transaction
Enter Wellcome’s funding contribution as a percentage. You will also need to provide an explanation for this.
For example: Wellcome may have funded only one of three investigators, in which case Wellcome’s contribution would be 33.3%. In your explanation you must include brief details of where the other 66.6% of the funding came from.
For standard revenue sharing terms, the amount payable to Wellcome is calculated by:
- Deducting ‘direct costs’ from the ‘money earned (gross income)’. This is net income.
- Multiplying the result by ‘Wellcome's funding contribution’ and then ‘Wellcome’s revenue share’. Wellcome’s revenue share is 25% for all awards made under our standard grant conditions, but may be different if you have agreed bespoke terms with Wellcome.
For bespoke revenue sharing terms, the amount payable to Wellcome is calculated by:
- Deducting ‘direct costs’ and 'technology transfer fees' from the ‘money earned (gross income)’. This is net income.
- Multiplying the result by ‘Wellcome's funding contribution’ and then ‘Wellcome’s revenue share’. Wellcome’s revenue share may be different from the standard 25% if you have agreed bespoke terms with Wellcome. Bespoke revenue share may be tiered and dependent on total income generated for a particular agreement.
The amount payable to Wellcome will be calculated when you save a transaction if our standard grant conditions apply. If bespoke conditions apply, you will be able to enter the amount payable manually.
Request to retain revenue payable to Wellcome
If your organisation wants to keep any revenue generated from Wellcome-funded intellectual property that is payable to Wellcome, you must confirm it in this section.
You will then be able to complete a revenue retention request after submitting your declaration form.
Invoicing information
If your organisation does not want to keep any revenue share payable to Wellcome, and you are returning money to Wellcome, we will issue an invoice for the whole amount of money due to Wellcome, plus VAT (if applicable).
If you apply to keep Wellcome's share of revenue and are successful, we will issue an invoice for payment of VAT on the amount retained, except if VAT is not payable.
If you apply to keep Wellcome's share of revenue and are not successful, we will issue an invoice for the full amount due to Wellcome, plus VAT if applicable.
- Full name and email address of the person or people who should receive an invoice
- Postal invoicing address for your organisation
- Whether a purchase order is needed by your organisation before an invoice can be created
Wellcome has an obligation to account and pay to HMRC any VAT on taxable income. When Wellcome waives its right to such income by allowing an organisation to keep Wellcome’s share of money, to satisfy VAT obligations Wellcome has to issue ‘VAT only’ invoice to ensure that the 20% VAT on income is charged, collected from the other party and paid to HMRC. This applies where the other party is based in the UK. Overseas organisations are responsible for ensuring they account for any relevant taxes in the country in which their organisation is based and should seek independent specialist advice if necessary. Wellcome is not responsible for any such taxes.
Declaration
A declaration template will be provided for you to download at the end of the Intellectual Property and Commercialisation report, based on the information that you have provided.
You will need to download the declaration template and insert your organisation’s letterhead or logo before signing the declaration. The declaration should be signed and dated by someone with the relevant authority at your organisation. We accept electronic signatures.
Once you have uploaded your signed declaration and confirmed that the information in your report is complete and accurate, you will be able to submit your Intellectual Property and Commercialisation report.
Things to know when filling in this section:
- insert your organisation’s letterhead on the template provided
- get someone with the relevant authority at your organisation to sign the declaration
You must still sign and return a ‘null’ declaration.
If you have reported new commercial agreements from Wellcome-funded intellectual property on standard conditions, for which you have not needed to seek Wellcome’s consent in advance, the declaration will also include Wellcome’s standard revenue sharing agreement for you to agree to. These standard revenue sharing terms will not apply to any awards for which bespoke revenue sharing terms have already been agreed with Wellcome.
How to submit a successful revenue retention request
You must complete all steps to submit a revenue retention request before the deadline. We do not give extensions for revenue retention requests.
1. Request to keep revenue payable to Wellcome in your intellectual property and commercialisation report
If your organisation has generated revenue from Wellcome-funded intellectual property, you must tell us in the report that you want to request to keep revenue payable to Wellcome.
2. Complete the revenue retention request form
The revenue retention request form will only become available to you after your intellectual property and commercialisation report has been submitted.
Things to do before you submit your request:
Let us know as soon as possible before submitting a revenue retention request if your organisation is expecting large amounts of revenue. Especially if they are large relative to transactions in the past. Doing this will:
- help to shape your revenue retention request
- reduce the risk of your request being unsuccessful
Early discussion of unusually large transactions may allow us to consider whether you need an extended spend period which we may agree to in exceptional circumstances, at our discretion. We reserve the right to:
- enforce limits on amounts kept and spend periods – for example, if we have concerns about an organisation’s ability to use the revenues effectively
- reject exceptionally large amounts (this will depend on what is unusually large for the organisation in question, based on their history of translational activity).
Revenue retention is limited, except under certain circumstances, to a maximum of £1 million per year (excluding VAT) per organisation.
Read our revenue retention terms and standard conditions. We may discuss additional conditions with you as needed, which will be agreed with you in writing after your application has been assessed.
What to include in your request
You must include:
- Full details of how activities in your request will support translational activities in line with the terms and conditions.
- How the money will be used including a breakdown of costs.
- Outputs and outcomes from your proposed use of the money.
- Key performance indicators or metrics to support monitoring or evaluation of the activity. If successful, you will have to report on these to demonstrate if the planned work has resulted in the intended benefit.
- If you kept money in a previous year: a summary of progress to date in addition to your request (maximum 250 words).
How long your request should be
The written length of your proposal should be proportional to the amount of money you are requesting. If your request is for:
- £50,000 or less: we expect your proposal to be around 250 words
- £250,000 or more: we expect your proposal to be approximately 1,000 words.
Previous examples of successful revenue retention requests
- Proof of concept funding for translational programmes.
- Concept development funding, such as evaluation of commercial or clinical feasibility.
- Support for translational funding applications and access to commercial expertise.
- Therapeutic and impact accelerators, including industry engagement and project support.
- Symposium for business opportunities.
- Improving health ecosystems through training, business development support or innovation partnerships.
Requests unlikely to be successful:
Proposals are unlikely to be successful if they:
- ask for the Wellcome share of revenue to offset costs which have already been budgeted for. For example, we would not allow Wellcome’s share of revenue to be used to pay the salary of an existing member of staff at a technology transfer office
- are for commitments which are longer than one year, unless the request is for large amounts (see Revenue section for more detail)
- are for significant translational research projects/studies or to supplement existing projects/studies. If support is required for projects/studies, revenue retention is not an appropriate way to fund this work and a grant application must be made using Wellcome’s normal application processes.
What happens after you submit
We may discuss additional conditions of revenue retention with you, which will be agreed with you in writing after your revenue retention request has been assessed.
If you have successfully requested to retain revenue payable to Wellcome you must notify us of any changes to the proposed use after a successful application, before you re-allocate funds. Wellcome may reject an application if your organisation has misspent funds in a previous cycle.
Report timeline
Your organisation will receive an email notification in January to start working on the report. The report must be submitted by the end of April.
Example timeline
- 14 January 2026
Invitation to start working on your report
- 30 April 2026
Deadline to submit report and to apply to retain revenue (keep Wellcome’s share of money made by your organisation in the reporting period)
- May-June 2026
Wellcome reviews your report and revenue retention request (if applicable)
- July-August 2026
If applicable, decision communicated about revenue retention request
- By August 2026
If applicable, Wellcome returns your countersigned declaration
- August-September 2026
If applicable, invoices sent for any money due to Wellcome
- July-August 2027 (within 12 months of decision)
If applicable, money retained from your revenue retention request must be committed
- Next intellectual property and commercialisation report
If applicable, Wellcome notifies your organisation to complete a spend report on any retained revenue
- Next intellectual property and commercialisation report deadline
If applicable, deadline to submit the spend report on any retained revenue