To comply with the Bayh-Dole Act, organization developing inventions with federal funding need to report to the funding agencies information regarding inventions and patents within specified timeframes. iEdison helps to meet the requirements by providing a uniform reporting mechanism, including common data fields and notifying institutions of certain due dates. The information that is submitted is stored in a dedicated database. When users log into iEdison, they will be able to Create a new invention report, patent report, or utilization report Verify the input Modify an existing invention or a related patent or utilization report Search, Download or View Invention, Patent and Utilization Reports Search and Sort outstanding notification messages If help is needed while working with iEdison, click the Help link at the top or bottom of every page to access the 'Help Menu'. For help with a specific page please click the icon located in the upper right side of the page and a new Web page that explains each data field for the form you are working on will be displayed. The Invention Report Form screen must be completed first. This applies whether you are entering a new invention report or modifying an existing invention report or its related patent, licensing, and utilization data. The information on this form formally establishes the relational link in the database for this invention and for all patents, licensing, and utilization data that follow from the invention. After an Invention Report form is submitted iEdison validates the submission before accepting it into the database and any validation errors will be displayed at the top of the form. When all required field have been entered and there are no further problems with the data an Invention Report Verification Page will be displayed once reviewed pressing submit again will save the data. If you are adding a new report to the database, an invention report number is assigned to that invention. Make a note of this number so that you can more easily complete future modifications or additions to the invention, patent or utilization information. To modify any existing Invention Record in iEdison, you can Search Invention Reports. There are several search parameters that can be used to search for invention reports, for example: Invention report number Invention docket number Invention Title Inventor's First or Last Name Grant or Contract Number Agency Invention Status iEdison searches the database to find the invention report you described. If several invention reports fit your search parameters, for example, when two or more invention reports have been reported with the same inventor, the iEdison search will return all applicable database records. When you find the invention you were searching for, you can click on the Modify Invention Report button to access the invention report form and make modifications. You can also Add a Patent Report and Manage Utilization Reports related to that invention. When you submit your modifications, they are checked against the reporting rules, then entered in the database. iEdison also lets you view and download reports of your organization's iEdison data to make it easy for you to compare with data in records at your organization. These reports may be displayed on the screen or put into a comma-delimited or tab-delimited file that you can store on your computer. To accommodate organizations with a large database of invention information, iEdison will permit grantee organizations to submit information directly from their database system to the iEdison without having to key the data using the Web Browser. Please refer to the iEdison Help and select ' Special Instructions for Institutions with Large Databases' for more information. The notification message system provides the user with the following functionality: Search and sort for notification messages Export messages into a spreadsheet Display messages by the action Due Date Clear messages with the addition of Real-time, action-based mechanisms for generating and clearing notification messages Open an invention or patent in a new window by clicking on the hyperlink in the notification message A weekly email will be sent to each user indicating the number of outstanding notification messages as a reminder to login to iEdison to view and act on notifications. Because it is difficult to keep track of all the time-sensitive events associated with each invention report and related patents, iEdison's messaging system will indicate the Due Date of certain reporting requirement. For example, you will be reminded when title to an invention must be elected, based on the date the invention report was submitted. You will continue to receive messages until you have acted on them.