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Ohio celebrates UC-inspired program that's helping to create more startups statewide

(from left) Ryan Hays, chief innovation and strategy officer at UC, President Neville Pinto, and Ohio Lt. Gov. Jon Husted recognize the success of the Ohio IP Promise. On the screen is James Mack, UC chemist and founder of Cinthesis.
Ann Thompson
/
WVXU
From left: Ryan Hays, chief innovation and strategy officer at UC; President Neville Pinto; and Ohio Lt. Gov. Jon Husted recognize the success of the Ohio IP Promise. On the screen is James Mack, UC chemist and founder of Cinthesis.

New startups have increased dramatically since Ohio streamlined the patent and licensing process, enabling inventors to own their intellectual property.

In the four years since UC pioneered the process, new startups in Ohio went from 12 to 89. This additional commercialization means more money for Ohio and, according to Lt. Governor Jon Husted, "it’s creating a virtuous cycle of prosperity."

Before Ohio took UC’s initiative statewide to all 14 public universities and two private ones, the process was clunky, with Husted describing it as "How many of you have been to a website and it was too hard and you said, 'I’m out?' "

The form is now one page with the Ohio IP Promise.

"Rather than having them (inventions) sit in a lab as a great innovation, we’re turning them into products and services in this state," says Husted. "It sends a message to entrepreneurs if they want to go get that intellectual property from a college campus, there’s an easy process to do that."

According to UC Chief Innovation and Strategy Officer Ryan Hays, it’s a "faster, smarter and better" way of doing things.

Here are some inventors who are benefiting

UC Chemistry Professor James Mack shows off a machine he has modified to adjust the speed and temperature for whatever he is mixing.
Ann Thompson
/
WVXU
UC Chemistry Professor James Mack shows off a machine he has modified to adjust the speed and temperature for whatever he is mixing.

James Mack, Ph.d., is a UC chemist and founder of Cinthesis. WVXU profiled him in April 2022. He mixes chemicals without liquids that could make a wide range of products that are more environmentally friendly.

Kesha Williams, PhD is founder and CEO of Cool Comforts.
Ann Thompson
/
WVXU
Kesha Williams, PhD is founder and CEO of Cool Comforts.

Kesha Williams is founder and CEO of Cool Comforts. She’s invented a pod that women suffering from vaginitis can freeze and apply to alleviate discomfort. “This is a product that has the potential to go global,” says Williams. Assistance from UC’s Venture Lab helped her with education, mentorship and funding, she adds.

Williams was highlighted in this Bloomberg article.

C. James Lin, Ph.d., is founder, president and CEO of Amplicore, a Mason-based biopharma startup developing drugs to treat disorders like osteoarthritis.

Ryan Fox is COO of Orange Grove Bio, a preclinical drug investment firm.

Ann Thompson has decades of journalism experience in the Greater Cincinnati market and brings a wealth of knowledge and expertise to her reporting.