Effective Technology Marketing: 
Stop Reacting, Start Proacting: Planning for Strategic Technology Marketing
A Step-by-Step Process for Technology Screenings: Technology Triage for TTO Professionals and Interns
How We Rode the Social Media Wave: Lessons Learned from a Technology Marketing Effort
Implementing Open Innovation: 
Future webinars are in the works. 
Our Blog
Key Best Practices—Moving Forward on the Right Path
IP management through licensing/commercialization (spin-out) and collaborative R&D partnerships (spin-in) are best pursued in the proactive, concerted manner Fuentek calls Symbiotic Innovation. Below are insights on the key best practices in these areas as well as the internal and external marketing communications needed to inspire participation in tech transfer. Note: Items marked with a 
provide in-depth insights with extensive details – registration is required to access this free information.
Best practices in IP management are tied to being proactive and strategic while also being cost-efficient and effective, preferably in a Symbiotic Innovation environment. The insights below provide the big-picture overview of these concepts, while specific tactics are covered in the IP Management Processes section.
Key Insights
- Commercializing Federally Funded Research: Paper Lays Out Roadmap
A new paper answers the question: How do TTOs find and commercialize the high-potential technologies efficiently (i.e., with their available resources and in a reasonable amount of time)?
- Proactively and Strategically Managing IP—Webcast Now Available
An overview of each step in the Fuentek Filtering Process, which enables TTOs to be proactive and strategic in managing their IP.
- Webinar: Stop Reacting, Start Proacting: Planning for Strategic Tech Marketing
How to develop a plan for proactive, strategic technology marketing that gets you the deals you need to achieve your goals and meet your metrics.
- Technology Screenings and Assessments: Making Informed Commercialization Decisions
Fuentek recommends a two-phase evaluation of a technology’s commercial viability from a market perspective.
- Proactively and Strategically Managing Innovation (or Tips for Avoiding the Tech Transfer Chasm): A Free Webinar
This webinar provides advice on identifying and implementing strategies to achieve technology transfer success. Ideal for organizations looking to become a proactive, efficient, and effective tech transfer office (TTO).
- Laura Schoppe Discusses Patent Portfolio Screening
Explains what these screenings involve and how they can help companies maximize the value of their intellectual property. - Viewing Technology Licensing through a New PRISM
Outlines Fuentek’s Prioritize, ROI, Information Management, Streamline, Measure focus.
- Tech Transfer Resolutions for 2012
Laura Schoppe’s top 5 recommendations for being a proactive technology transfer office to achieve near-term and long-term success.
Other Insights
- How’d We Do?: Establishing Useful Technology Transfer Metrics This white paper provides research-based recommendations for measuring performance and success of tech transfer programs in government, academic, and corporate institutions.
- Patent Filings Gone Wild (or The Biggest Mistake You Can Make Under the America Invents Act)
Some in the industry suggest that the USPTO’s shift from a “first to invent” to a “first inventor to file” policy demands the virtually automatic filing of quick-and-dirty provisionals on everything. We hope that tech transfer offices do not heed this advice. Read this post to learn why and what we recommend instead.
- Conversations with DoD & the White House on Federal Tech Transfer Initiatives
Fuentek recommendations for increasing the likelihood and efficiency of getting research results to market.
- Streamlined/Low-Cost Licensing: Making Sure Faster and Cheaper Are Better
Super low-cost (or even free) IP licensing and non-negotiation (ready-to-sign) license agreements are a growing trend. Using two recent examples, this post discusses how to make these types of programs successful.
- Getting Faculty on Your Side through Systematic Screening and Interns: Stories from the Field
How to turn around a faculty that’s in revolt against the TTO.
- Insights, Best Practices on Tech Transfer, Startups at Portugal Meeting
Perspectives from an international group of technology transfer leaders sharing information and best practices on startups, entrepreneurship, innovation, commercialization, and more.
- Reaping Long-Term Rewards from Strategic IP Portfolio Screening: Stories from the Field
How an efficient and effective IP portfolio screening helped a university do more than just prioritize its IP for future technology transfer and marketing efforts.
- Why Can’t I Just Start Marketing? A Tech Transfer Webcast
It is important to proactively gather the market-based information you need to not only decide whether further commercialization efforts are warranted but also to fully understand market interest and assemble a successful marketing plan.
- Less Is More: Commercialization Factors for Assessments
After you’ve done all of your market-based assessment research, it’s often sufficient to evaluate just a few key factors in your final analysis rather than get mired down in a lengthy list.
- Prototyping Licenses: Another Angle on Evaluation Licenses for Technology Transfer
If your TTO is thinking about offering evaluations licenses, consider also offering a Prototyping License option in certain situations.
- Worth Reading: New Reports, Congressional Testimony
(June 2012) National Research Council’s “Research Universities and the Future of America: Ten Breakthrough Actions Vital to Our Nation’s Prosperity and Security” report, U.S. House Subcommittee on Technology and Innovation hearing on “Best Practices in Transforming Research into Innovation,” and BIO’s “The Economic Contributions of University/Nonprofit Inventions in the United States: 1996–2010″ report.
Collaborative R&D agreements can help address technical challenges quickly and cost-effectively. Fuentek's insights can help your TTO as you seek technology sources and collaborators for in-licensing and joint-development research.
Key Insights
- A New Webinar – Implementing Open Innovation: Symbiotic Success for Tech Transfer Offices
Fuentek has had repeated and cost-efficient success in forming open innovation partnerships by following the concepts of Symbiotic Innovation. The presenters will teach you how to achieve Symbiotic Innovation success, including specific steps for getting started.
- Open Innovation and Tech Transfer: A Perfect Match!
Important things to keep in mind as you consider open innovation partnerships in your tech transfer work.
- It’s Just for You: Open Innovation Webinar
Despite the fact that government, university, and corporate TTOs vary in their missions, perspectives on innovation, goals/metrics, and economic and entrepreneurial climates, they all have the potential to benefit from implementing sound principles related to open innovation.
- Open Innovation “Loser” Redux: More thoughts, new webcast
Insights into universities’ history as open innovation players, what is expected of them now, and how Symbiotic Innovation — and maybe new metrics — will get them there.
- When to Use Open Innovation… and When NOT to: A tech transfer webcast
What are the important points to consider when deciding to use or not to use open innovation?
- Scratching Beneath the Surface of Collaborative R&D Partnerships
An in-depth look at Fuentek’s collaborative R&D partnerships flow chart.
- Forming R&D Partnerships: 8 Keys to Success
What we’ve learned over several years of helping organizations form collaborative R&D relationships.
- Proactively and Strategically Managing Innovation (or Tips for Avoiding the Tech Transfer Chasm): A Free Webinar
This webinar provides advice on identifying and implementing strategies to achieve technology transfer success. Ideal for organizations looking to become a proactive, efficient, and effective tech transfer office (TTO).
- Investigate before Investing: Using Technology Transfer Principles to Guide R&D This paper describes how to conduct investigations into sources for potential technology solutions prior to R&D investment.
- Sources for Space Technologies: Finding and Evaluating New Partners
This paper presents the “6-S for Partnership Development Success” methodology. - Understand-Address-Present: A ‘New Product Development’ Approach to Open Innovation This paper presents a three-phase, customer-focused approach to communicating the value of open innovation clearly and effectively with program managers.
- Overcoming One of the Biggest Barriers to Open Innovation
Presents a brief overview of the Understand-Address-Present model.
- Laura Schoppe Discusses Collaborative Research and Development Addresses technology infusion and explains what steps companies should take before searching for potential partners.
Other Insights
- Crowdsourcing: Move Beyond the Buzz, Consider the Costs
Are you factoring in all of the cost aspects of the crowdsourcing model for open innovation?
- How’d We Do?: Establishing Useful Technology Transfer Metrics This white paper provides research-based recommendations for measuring performance and success of tech transfer programs in government, academic, and corporate institutions.
- Free IP Circumvents the Nickel-and-Dime’ing in SRAs
To what extent universities are nickle-and-dime’ing their research sponsors to death by holding onto IP rights. Consider Penn State University’s latest move.
- Technology Trade Shows: What Makes a Good One
Features to look for in deciding whether to attend a trade show to network with potential partners.
- Insights, Best Practices on Tech Transfer, Startups at Portugal Meeting
Perspectives from an international group of technology transfer leaders sharing information and best practices on startups, entrepreneurship, innovation, commercialization, and more.
- Collaborations Protect Your Competitive Advantage and Minimize Risk
Maybe you think spin-in doesn’t apply in the corporate setting because you think collaborating compromises your competitive advantage. We’re saying, it doesn’t have to.
- Tackling the Sticky Intellectual Property Issues in Alliance Collaborations
Key recommendations for making the most of collaborations while still maintaining your IP.
- Tools to Identify Potential Collaborators and R&D Partners
Our top information sources for identifying potential partners.
- How Do I Address the Customer’s Needs When I Don’t Know Who the Customer Is?
NASA personnel raise an interesting question at a training on open innovation.
- Worth Reading: New Reports, Congressional Testimony
(June 2012) National Research Council’s “Research Universities and the Future of America: Ten Breakthrough Actions Vital to Our Nation’s Prosperity and Security” report, U.S. House Subcommittee on Technology and Innovation hearing on “Best Practices in Transforming Research into Innovation,” and BIO’s “The Economic Contributions of University/Nonprofit Inventions in the United States: 1996–2010″ report.
- Worth Reading: Entrepreneurial Tech Transfer Offices (and more on patent trolls)
(May 2012) Examples from the University of Virginia, Purdue University, Arizona State University, the University of Michigan, and Colorado schools working with the Innovation Center of the Rockies. Also clips related to Canadian government support for innovative partnerships between colleges and businesses and patent trolls.
- Worth Reading: Open Innovation and Innovation
(April 2012) Nilofer Merchant interviews Philip Auserwald, GE’s Mark Little on how innovation is never a straight line, a new crowdsourcing platform in manufacturing, Gillette’s reverse innovation, Tom Fishburne’s “We’re Going Digital” cartoon, and Three Hidden Factors that Make Innovation Diffusion Hard
Effective communications is essential for TTOs to connect with potential licensees and collaborators as well as with the innovators and managers whose participation is essential to successful technology transfer. Below are Fuentek's best practices in marketing communications. We also offer insights on technology transfer marketing strategies as well as specific technology marketing tools. And we have insights on the larger communications strategies and tactics that are essential for running an effective TTO.
Key Best Practices
- Webinar: Effective Technology Marketing: Getting to the Negotiating Table
The tools you need to be more successful in your technology marketing: scoping and focusing the effort, contacting the right prospects, qualifying interested leads, and heading into deal-making well armed for negotiations.
- How Does Your Marketing Message Sound? Free Webcast Now Available!
Details about Fuentek’s AMMO approach to marketing.
- Choosing the Right Marketing Mechanisms
A comprehensive review of the various traditional, digital, and social media mechanisms for marketing your technologies.
- Look before You Leap into Tech Marketing
An experience that shows the importance of carefully considering the market’s view of a technology before launching into marketing.
- Marketing Your Technologies Online – Webcast Now Available
A list of the must-have elements for your technology Web pages and shows a real-world page as a sample.
- Practical Advice for Tech Transfer Web Sites
Details on creating a Web site that is valuable for your prospective licensees, partners, and other internal and external stakeholders, including a link for downloading our “How to Build an Effective Technology Transfer Web Site” white paper.
- Getting Ready for Technology Marketing: Answering Key Questions
How to use the assessment’s information and analysis to begin developing the tech transfer marketing plan.
- In Defense of Passive Marketing in Tech Transfer: Technology Listings
Passive marketing tool is as essential to TTOs as the active efforts of making phone calls, meeting with prospects at industry conferences, and the like.
Other Best Practices
- TTOs Weigh in on Social Media: Proponents and Detractors Offer Important Insights
A summary of results from Fuentek’s 2013 survey on social media in technology transfer, which is detailed in our white paper, “The State of Social Media in Tech Transfer: 2013 Survey Results and Recommendations.”
- Getting the Most Out of Social Media for Tech Transfer: White Paper, FLC Panel
Fuentek releases a comprehensive primer to help tech transfer offices plan and execute a comprehensive social medial strategy. We also lead a panel at the annual meeting of the Federal Laboratory Consortium of Technology Transfer.
- Insights from the AUTM 2013 Social Media Panel
Themes that resonated most strongly with the audience were the social media continuum, a focus on fundamentals, the value of LinkedIn, and metrics/ROI.
- Getting Faculty on Your Side through Systematic Screening and Interns: Stories from the Field
How to turn around a faculty that’s in revolt against the TTO.
- Some Advice on Prepping for One-On-One Meetings at Industry Conferences
Recommendations for diving into industry conferences with confidence, knowledge, and ammunition for productive meetings with your prospects.
- Enhancing Economic Development through Technology Transfer of Federal- and State-Funded R&D Offers specific ways that government/university TTOs and economic development agencies can contribute to a mutually beneficial partnership.
- And the Winner Is…: A new white paper about using innovation awards to boost tech transfer
This white paper discusses the value of innovation awards and how they positively contribute to the commercialization process. It also provides detailed guidance on how to plan an effective awards strategy and successfully apply for awards.
- Podcast: How to Apply for and Win Tech Awards
Why you should submit technologies for awards and how winning awards can augment your tech transfer efforts.
- Proactively and Strategically Managing Innovation (or Tips for Avoiding the Tech Transfer Chasm): A Free Webinar
This webinar provides advice on identifying and implementing strategies to achieve technology transfer success. Ideal for organizations looking to become a proactive, efficient, and effective tech transfer office (TTO).
- Advice for Heightening Inventors’ IP Awareness
Scientists and engineers currently in the work force (as well as universities’ STEM students) need training on what intellectual property is and why it’s important. We offer a specific example and tips for going beyond the classroom in providing this training.
- Invest in Your Inventors: Training Pays Off
Training innovators on the ins and outs of IP management helps them understand many aspects of tech transfer.
- Use Success Stories to Avoid Collateral Damage in the Patent Wars
How to help the public understand the value of patents.
- Applying the AMMO to Tech Transfer Events: Stories from the Field
Specific details of how Fuentek helped a client accomplish a successful tech transfer outreach event designed to promote economic development.
- Elaborating on My Fav Tweets from Tech Transfer Marketing Webinar
More details about some of our key recommendations for achieving effective technology marketing.
- Be Ready to Engage Prospects: A Tech Transfer Webcast
When reaching out to marketing prospects, be prepared to engage quickly and then don’t give up (to a point). Often the process can take longer than you expect.
- Advice for DoD (and Other Federal) Tech Transfer Professionals
AUTM’s Global Technology Portal is open for (government) business, and tips for putting social media to work for a government lab.
- Leveraging Industry Associations to Attract Tech Transfer and Strategic Partnerships
A focus on understanding market needs leads to a collaboration that is generating big results in technology transfer marketing.
- Tactical Tools for Marketing Strategies: A Tech Transfer Webcast
Real-world strategies for mixing and matching a combination of marketing mechanisms to reach target audiences and promote technologies.
- Communicating the Value of Tech Transfer: An Example from NASA
It might feel like bragging, but communicating the results of technology transfer is as important as executing tech transfer deals. Our project for NASA illustrates exactly this idea.
- Focus on Market Potential to Prioritize Active Projects: Stories from the Field
How Fuentek helped a university client prioritize nearly 50 active marketing projects, identifying those to convert to passive marketing or for which all further efforts should be suspended.
- NASA Showcases Innovation Impacts at Technology Day on the Hill
Describes NASA’s Technology Day on the Hill 2012 in Washington, DC.
