Invention disclosures are a technology transfer office’s (TTO’s) bread and butter. Therefore, TTO success depends in large part on having a productive relationship with your organization’s researchers. Building a strong foundation with researchers is an ongoing process that happens before, during, and after they file their invention disclosures. Fuentek’s experience has shown that there are three areas where a TTO can focus these efforts…

Today for the final installment in our Marketing Mondays series, I’m going to talk about cultivating your leads. The advice and examples offered here are designed to help your technology transfer office (TTO) stay in the sweet spot of putting in enough time to develop a qualified prospect without wasting time trying to force something that’s not meant to be.

Marketing technologies has never been easy. And grabbing the attention of busy decision makers is more challenging than ever. So, today I’m going to share Fuentek’s top tips for developing compelling and appealing content when marketing innovations. Based on our years of experience successfully marketing our clients’ technologies, this advice helps ensure your target Audience hears your Message — regardless of the Mechanism you use — so you can achieve your Outcome.

Today, we’re releasing a new webcast that discusses how to develop a value chain to identify whom to contact to get the best market feedback on the technology. The value chain charts the sequence of companies (or collaborating players) that take a product from raw material to final product or service to satisfy market demand. It maps the categories of players within a segment of an industry, providing context about the supplier-customer relationships. It not only outlines the primary players in an industry but also helps you think through how the technology will deliver added value to this industry.

Earlier this spring, NASA’s Armstrong Flight Research Center (AFRC) signed a license allowing Vigilant Aerospace Systems to integrate its patent-pending sense-and-avoid system into the startup company’s FlightHorizon™ avionics platform. This deal is noteworthy not only because it may improve flight safety for all kinds of aircraft, including UAVs/drones, but also because it provides a valuable tech transfer case study.

Gathering and analyzing market data may be at the heart of developing the technology transfer strategy, but its value is not limited to the go/no-go decision and planning how to move forward. There are some less obvious but extremely impactful ways that market data can be a useful tool for a tech transfer office (TTO). Here are four projects I’ve worked on recently that illustrate some of the powerful ways your TTO can make use of market data.

The past few months have seen several of us at Fuentek supporting multiple clients with negotiating licenses for their technologies. One project that I’ve been helping a client with embodies several best practices of license negotiations. Ironically, these concepts are so essential… that they’re sometimes forgotten. So here is a list we’ve put together to ensure that the most important aspects of license negotiations stay front and center.

When it comes to managing the innovation and intellectual property portfolio, technology transfer offices need to be able to see the forest and the trees. TTOs have to evaluate each innovation individually, but they also need to consider its strategic value relative to other IP in the portfolio. Therefore, periodically examining the technologies as a collective — whether it is the entire IP portfolio or just a specific selection of innovations — should be part of the TTO’s itinerary. Of course, “periodically” has two meanings: (1) at regular intervals of time and (2) from time to time. So when is the right time to do a whole/partial IP portfolio review? Here’s my advice.

Now that we’ve sprung forward into Daylight Savings Time, it is also time for university technology transfer offices (TTOs) to spring ahead with their summer internship programs. March is usually the month when TTOs issue their “Apply Now” announcements for summer interns. But all is not lost for TTOs who are just getting started. Although there are significant advantages when you begin planning a new summer internship program the previous fall, March is not too late to start. For example, it was last spring when a university TTO asked Fuentek for help with establishing their internship program. They wanted to start that coming summer, so we jumped in to help them, using the tricks that we have learned over our long history of establishing effective internship programs…

Researchers at NASA’s Glenn Research Center have developed a patent-pending method for fabricating aerogel composites for thermal insulation applications — and NASA is now making this technology available for licensing. NASA’s award-winning engineer Frances Hurwitz developed the technology in collaboration with Ohio Aerospace Institute (OAI). In fact, the two organizations have a joint-ownership agreement (JOA) in place for the intellectual property (IP). The JOA specifies the roles and responsibilities for patent prosecution and technology marketing, and it authorizes NASA Glenn to represent OAI during license negotiations. Quite frankly, this agreement is a big win for potential licensees:…