Volume 2, Issue 1

Tip of the Quarter: Guidelines for

Table of Contents
Coming Soon: Online
MTA Form
Student Inventor Spotlight:
Alejandro Covalin
“Mind over Matter”
Meet the Staff—Technology
Transfer Associates
Newly Issued UCLA Patents for
3 have become subject to increased scrutiny
3rd Quarter, FY2009
Things to Come …
ISR Checklist
Be Fair: Defining Fair Use
Faculty Consulting
The UC encourages outside faculty as export control, intellectual property and
activities, such as consulting, that contrib- submission of research grants, and
2
ute to the individual’s profession, to the provides sample language that can be
community and to UCLA’s teaching and included with a faculty’s consulting
public service mission. To this end, a agreement.
revised and updated Guide to Remember, consulting agree-
2
Faculty Consulting Activities This guide will help ments are personal agree-
and Consulting Agreements faculty navigate ments between an outside
was distributed in September. organization and the consult-
The updated guide is posted conflict of comments
ant, to which the University
to http://www.oip.ucla.edu/ and conflict of is not a party. Under the
academic-community/ interest concerns circumstances, UCLA staff
policies-and-related-forms.
2 cannot provide faculty with
We anticipate faculty may use fur- personal legal advice, nor can they act on
lough time and this guide will help faculty behalf of individual faculty to negotiate the
navigate conflict of commitment and terms of a consulting agreement.
conflict of interest concerns. These issues As a courtesy however,
staff of both the Office of Intellectual
by the University, the State of California, Property & Industry Sponsored Research
Congress, federal agencies, and the (OIP-ISR) and Legal Affairs – UCLA Health
general public. Therefore, it is important System will be happy to answer questions
about individual consulting agreements
4 that consulting be done in a way that does
and whether it is consistent with University
not interfere with a faculty member’s
primary commitment to the University and policy. For questions related to faculty
that it is accomplished within the consulting, please contact OIP-ISR at (310)
4 framework of University policies. 794-0558 or Legal Affairs – UCLA Health
System at (310) 794-3138.
The guide also covers topics such

Kathryn’s Korner
Welcome to another year and another issue of The Inventor newsletter. As the academic year
kicks off, our new issue contains stories on innovative developments at UCLA, a look at one of our new
student inventors, and new information on faculty consulting. We have launched a redesigned website,
www.oip.ucla.edu, to further facilitate our collaborations with the faculty, staff, and students at UCLA as
well our partners in the business community.
Check out our yearly magazine, UCLAInvents which highlights some of the great inventions and
ideas coming out of the UCLA campus. A full copy is available on our new website at http://
www.oip.ucla.edu/publications/UCLAInvents2009.pdf. I hope that this new academic year continues to
bring forth the innovations for which UCLA is known. We are here to help.
Sincerely,
Kathryn Atchison, D.D.S., M.P.H.
Vice Provost, Intellectual Property and Industry Relations
Associate Vice Chancellor for Research
Volume 2, Issue 1

Coming Soon: Student Inventor Spotlight: Alejandro Covalin

Online MTA Form
A new feature for
material transfer requests,
“onlineMTA” will be a central
site for submitting all requests
for Material Transfer
Agreements through a new,
convenient web-based
form. The onlineMTA site will
also allow investigators to track
the status of their pending and
completed MTA requests
submitted after July 1, 2009.
To facilitate the
transition to this new MTA
request process, training for
the new onlineMTA portal is
being made available. Faculty,
research staff, lab managers,
and administrative staff are
welcome to join the MTA team
for a training session on the
new system. The class will be
held on December 3rd, 2:00-
3:00 p.m. in the Ronald Regan
Medical Center, Room 3-3102.
For further questions,
or to RSVP for this training
event, please contact the MTA
team at
UCLAMTA@research.ucla.edu.
Mind over Matter
Having earned an
undergraduate
degree in physics
engineering at
Universidad
Iberoamericana in
Mexico City,
Alejandro Covalin
began his
professional life
working as a new
projects engineer
in the forestry
industry in his
native Mexico. At
first, he found the
Alejandro Covalin work both
challenging and satisfying. But after overseeing
the design and construction of a new sawmill
facility, Covalin recalls that he felt the need to
move on.
“I wanted to go back to school,” he
says. “I applied to various schools and between
Berkley, CWRU and UCLA, I was most excited
by what UCLA had to offer; basically, I liked
their approach and the freedom I would have
to choose my thesis subject; I accepted and
started working on my PhD in neuroengineer-
ing.”
Covalin came to UCLA in 2000 and,
under the guidance of Associate Professor Jack
Judy, he quickly focused on the study of
feedback mechanisms in the autonomic
nervous system. It was something of a leap
from pure engineering and machinery design
to the anatomy of the nervous system, Covalin
admits, but his background in physics and
engineering ultimately served him well.
“There is a lot of physics involved in
how the nervous system works. Having been
trained as an engineer, I had to retrain myself to
learn and think differently in order to force my
mind to blur the boundaries between engineer-
ing and neurosciences, which in itself is neuro-
engineering.”
Advised by UCLA Neurosurgeon
Professor Antonio De Salles on viable
applications of his knowledge to clinically
relevant issues, Covalin ultimately turned his
attention to the problem of obesity and the role
the autonomous nervous system plays in
determining metabolic rates. He found that
there is in fact a region in the brain that
controls metabolic activity, and that by
introducing an electric current, it is possible to
regulate metabolic rate.
Having successfully demonstrated the
technology on rats, Covalin and Judy, together
with Los Angeles-based entrepreneur Leon
Ekchian, a UCLA graduate with an MBA from
the Anderson School, and UCLA neurosurgeon
Antonio De Salles founded NeuroSigma, Inc. in
2008. NeuroSigma exclusively licensed the
patent application from UCLA, is currently
“Covalin” Continued on Page 4

Meet the Staff—Technology Transfer Associates

ULCA Alums both, Lindsay Keever
and Brian Shedd both found their way to
OIP and are the office’s Technology Transfer
Associates, positions for scientists to break
into the Technology Transfer career.
As Tech Transfer Associates, their
role is to evaluate the patentability and
potential commercial applications of
inventions, plan marketing and patenting
strategies, and assist PIs in finding
commercial partners to help bring their
technologies to market to benefit society
and the economy.
Lindsay Keever
Having received an MS in Biochemistry and
Molecular Biology, Lindsay was drawn to “the business side of
science” and found herself at OIP working daily with PIs and their the external corporate
groundbreaking technology. Brian recently earned a Ph.D. in
Mechanical Engineering from UCLA and, after a marketing
internship with OIP, found a fulltime position working with
“advanced technology and business” where
he could “walk the line between the two
arenas”. For both, this interest in the duality
of their positions allows them to successfully
work with potential corporate partners for
UCLA technologies as well as form
successful relationships with UCLA faculty
and students.
Though working with different areas of
scientific expertise, both agree that UCLA’s
faculty bring exciting developments to the
forefront and the enjoyment of their jobs
comes from helping to find ways to progress
Brian Shedd
the development of these technologies into
potential commercial products. In helping to build bridges with
community, Brian says we “would like to
know what other ways faculty and students would like to be able
to interact with that community”. For these Bruins, it is the
relationships developed at UCLA that allow them to be so
successful at their jobs.
Volume 2, Issue 1

Newly Issued UCLA Patents for 3rd Quarter, FY209

Case No. Invention Title Inventors by Last Name Department Patent No.
Michael Carey, Sanjiv Gambhir,
Transcription amplification system for molecular
2002-004 Meera Kodukulla, Lily Wu, SOM 7527942
imaging
Liqun Zhang
Alexander Khitun,
Nano-scale computational architectures with spin
2005-021 Roman Ostroumov, SEAS 7528456
wave bus
Kang-Long Wang
Video codec method in error resilient mode and appa-
1999-574 John Villasenor, Jiangtao Wen SEAS 7532669
ratus therefor
2000-462 Orally administered peptides synergize statin activity Alan Fogelman, Mohamad Navab SOM 7531514
Aptamers to human epidermal growth factor Chi-Hong (Betty) Chen,
2002-466 SOM 7531649
receptor-3 Ralf Landgraf
Methods and compositions for smooth muscle recon-
2004-084 Larissa Rodriguez, Benjamin Wu SOM/SEAS 7531355
struction
Fusion molecules and methods for treatment of im- Andrew Saxon, Ke Zhang,
2000-262 SOM 7534440
mune diseases Daocheng Zhu
Competitive regulation of hepcidin mRNA by soluble
2005-604 Tomas Ganz, Lan Lin SOM 7534764
and cell-associated hemojuvelin
Mary Eshaghian-Wilner, Alexan-
2006-385 Spin-wave architectures SEAS 7535070
der Khitun, Kang-Long Wang
Amplified and overexpressed gene in colorectal Lee Anderson, Charles Ginther,
2002-341 SOM 7537905
cancers Dennis Slamon
Lithographic and measurement techniques using the
2005-521 Daniel Neuhauser, Gabriel Sirat L&S 7541600
optical properties of biaxial crystals
2003-317 Controlled nano-doping of ultra thin films Jane Chang, Trinh Tu Van SEAS 7544398
2004-248 Three-terminal electrical bistable devices Jun He, Liping Ma, Yang Yang SEAS 7544966
Nell peptide expression systems and bone formation Shunichi Kuroda, Kang Ting,
2004-331 DEN/SEAS 7544486
activity of nell peptide Benjamin Wu
Filipp Baron, Kang-Long Wang,
2002-421 Vertical gate-depleted single electron transistor SEAS 7547932
Yaohui Zhang
System and method for retrieving scenario-specific Wesley Chu, Victor Liu, Qinghua
2003-357 SEAS 7548910
documents Zou
2000-122 Lafora's disease gene Antonio Delgado-Escueta SOM/VAMC 7550571
Modulating neuronal outgrowth via the major histo- Lorraine Hanssen,
2000-118 SOM 7553484
compatibility complex class I (MHC I) molecule Daniel Kaufman, Daniel Zekzer
2004-433 Lobe pump system and method of manufacture Shih Hsi Tong, Daniel Yang SEAS 7553143

2004-561 Nanoparticle-polymer bistable devices Richard Kaner, Yang Yang L&S/SEAS 7554111

Jonathan Braun,
1999-558 Antibody materials for an IBD-associated polypeptide SOM 7557194
Christopher Sutton
Memory devices based on electric field programmable
2003-194 Jianyong Ouyang, Yang Yang SEAS 7557372
films
System and method for representing and encoding Charles (Cheng-en) Guo, Ying-
2004-563 L&S 7567715
images Nian Wu, Song-Chun Zhu
Randal Eckert, Fengxia Qi,
1999-543 Anti-microbial targeting chimeric pharmaceutical DEN 7569542
Wenyuan Shi
Methods for improving the structure and function of
2005-227 Alan Fogelman SOM 7579319
arterioles
Volume 2, Issue 1
Now Available:
ISR Checklist
Researchers on the
UCLA campus who are
contemplating a research
project and would like to
submit a proposal to OIP-ISR
now have a faster and
easier way to do so. The ISR
team has created a Proposal
Checklist Form that
researchers are able to
complete and submit along
with their proposal
documentation. This
checklist streamlines the
way that researchers inform
OIP-ISR of their potential
research projects by (a)
incorporating needed
information onto one form,
(b) reminding PIs of the
additional proposal
documents required, and
(c) allowing PIs to submit all
required documentation to
a dedicated email inbox
that is monitored by the ISR
team.
This checklist not
only helps researchers
carefully think through their
proposal, but condensing a
multi-step process into a
single form will expedite the
contracting process for PIs.
The form is available online
at: www.oip.ucla.edu/isr.
All documents must
be submitted before ISR will
open formal negotiations
with a sponsor. If you have
questions, send an email to
the ISR team at
ISR@research.ucla.edu.
Be Fair: Defining Fair Use
Faculty and students often like to use
permission from the copyright owner.
the works of others within their own works, What is the effect of the market? If your
whether it is for teaching purposes or use of the work takes away potential royalties
supporting documentation in research papers. or sales from the original work, it is likely that
As the slew of plagiarism stories in the news has you would need to get permission to use the
recently indicated, the misuse of someone else’s work. However, if the original work is unavail-
work of authorship has serious consequences. able, there is no market for the work, or, if you
are unable to identify or locate the original
As an educational institution, UCLA
copyright owner, it is more
relies on the doctrine of Fair Use,
As an educational likely that your use will be con-
which states that “the fair use of a
sidered a fair use of that work.
copyrighted work...for purposes institution, UCLA relies
such as criticism, comment, news Examples of fair use include
on the doctrine of
reporting, teaching (including photocopying an article or pic-
multiple copies for classroom use),
Fair Use. ture for class and providing a
scholarship, or research, is not an link to an online article for your
infringement of copyright.” students. Since these items are being used for
an educational purpose, they typically fall under
To determine whether use of a work
fair use. However, photocopying an entire 300
fits under this description, the law outlines four
page book for class probably will not quality as
factors to help determine fair use:
fair use because it might prevent the sale of a
What is the character of the use? If book and that has a negative impact on the
your use of the work falls under Non-profit or market for the work.
educational uses, it has met the first criterion for If you have any concerns, OIP has a link to a
fair use. If the use is commercial, it is best to template form that you can complete and send
seek permission from the copyright owner first. to the publisher to ask permission to use the
work. See www.oip.ucla.edu/copyright. Faculty
How much of the work will you use?
can also talk to the UCLA Library at 310-825-
The more of the work that you use, the more
1201 since they may have preexisting
likely you are to need permission to use it.
agreements with the publisher. If your
What is the nature of the work to be department receives requests to use work that
used? Works that are fact based, or previously belongs to the UC Regents, send an email to
published typically fall under fair use, but highly copyrights@ucla.edu and OIP will handle the
imaginative or creative work, or work that has permission request.
not been published before tends to require
Covalin, Continued
taking steps to obtain FDA approval for human clinical trials and is moving forward with plans to
commercialize the technology.
Covalin believes that eventually, the company will go to market with a pacemaker-like
device that can be used to treat obesity and other disorders.
“The electrodes will go inside the brain,” he explains, “and the device that makes the
pulses will be imbedded in the skull, functioning as an unperceived pacemaker for brain activ-
ity. UCLA offered to Dr. Covalin the environment for integration from the most basic scientific
knowledge to the highest level of medical research. The consequent spin off, Neursigma, Inc.,
is a unique example of the superb entrepreneurial and scientific integration of engineering, biol-
ogy and clinical practice at UCLA.
Subscribe / Contact Us
Publisher: Kathryn A. Atchison
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Executive Editor: Robin Faria
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Graphic Design: Ann Hu
www.oip.ucla.edu
With special thanks to: Dayton Fandray
If you would like to be on the mailing list for future
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© 2009 UC Regents