[fzwang]

I used to work in VC and have dealth with university commercialization/IP offices.

1) If it's serious, you need to lawyer up. It might not be now but if you can get some investors involved they could help with getting legal resources. If it's medical devices, you'll need investors anyways. One issue is this gives investors a lot of leverage to negotiate their interests against you.

2) The university office absolutely does not care about how "little" they gave you. Their perspective will be they've given you plenty, as office/lab space and anything else were not part of the deal (unless you have it in writing), and they've subsidized your funding. It's not "fair" but it is what it is.

3) This scenario is quite common, and one of reasons I tell grad students to negotiate this stuff first and pick your school wisely. Some schools are way better than others in allowing their academic staff commercial freedom.

4) You can make it a PR issue for them, to push the narrative of "university stifles innovation via obscure bureaucracy" but it's a risky strategy.

There are usually always room to negotiate/maneuvre, but you need the right contacts and political support within the university to pull it off.

Good luck!

[thrownaway98723]

This is really valuable information, Thank you.

[lancewiggs]

Talk to a VC as well. Or more than one, and ideally ones that are in the medical device space and have done similar deals with others from your university. If they are interested then they can apply pressure on the university too, to get to a solution that works for everyone.