Obtain a technology license

Licensing for ETH Spin-offs

In most cases, the commercialization of an ETH technology requires a license. Depending on the technology, different types of agreements exist. In the following cases, please, reach out to the ETH Spin-off licensing managers for negotiating an agreement:

• patents (see Art. 11 of the Equity and Licensing Policy)
• software (see Art. 13 of the Equity and Licensing Policy)
• data
• hardware / prototypes
• knowhow

If an ETH Spin-off is established using Open Source Software from ETH Zurich, no additional license for the source code is required. The equity terms, however, apply.

Terms of holding equity

ETH Zurich will be a co-founder of all ETH Spin-offs (founded after July 10, 2025) and will hold equity.

Express agreement on patents

Three options for royalty and sublicensing rates are availble, which the founders may select. The equity in the table below is in addition to the baseline equity of 2 % that ETH Zurich takes in every ETH Spin-off.

If no royalties have been paid in five years after the effective date of the agreement, annual minimum payments of 5 kCHF / year will be charged. Also,  patenting costs incurred by ETH Zurich must be reimbursed.

Software sale agreement

ETH Spin-off can purchase proprietary software from ETH Zurich. The sales price for ETH proprietary software is a fixed sum based on self-declared efforts.