Fuentek’s Tech Transfer Blog
Fuentek’s technology transfer experts share their insights
about IP management, technology marketing, TTO operations,
strategic planning, best practices, and more.
about IP management, technology marketing, TTO operations,
strategic planning, best practices, and more.
It’s time for another installment of articles, blogs, videos, and the like that have caught the attention of the folks here at Fuentek. This month features several items related to marketing, several of which we saw on the weekly IP Marketing eNews (a great free resource, as is its Wednesday counterpart: Tech Transfer eNews).
If you’ve kept up with Fuentek’s webinar series, you know by now that we are committed to perfecting and sharing technology transfer best practices. In our previous webinar, we gave step-by-step, how-to details on performing market-based technology assessments so that tech transfer offices can be more proactive and efficient in selecting the technologies to market and identifying the key next steps. Now, our new webinar, “Effective Technology Marketing: Getting to the Negotiating Table,” goes a step further in helping you make the most of a limited marketing budget.
A few months ago, the IP Marketing Blog discussed the OpenUlster program at the University of Ulster in Ireland and its evaluation license. It caught my attention for its efforts to streamline licensing and help mitigate the risks that potential licensees may feel when contemplating a new technology. Here’s how the blogger described it: ‘To take out an evaluation license, which costs just one Pound, the visitor just clicks on the link to download the documents, fill out two forms and return them both to Ulster. “When the license is countersigned by one of our commercialization team, the firm has exclusivity to evaluate that technology,” says [technology commercialization manager Dr. John] MacRae… At the end of the evaluation period… the evaluation license can be converted into a full commercial license.”’
Ramping up to successful and cost-effective technology transfer marketing depends not only on a range of proactive research activities but also on thinking through the licensing strategy and a sound marketing plan to help you achieve your goals. The Technology Licensing Strategy A licensing strategy need not be complex or even necessarily written down (although more mature offices may track it as a field in their IP management database). Nevertheless, it is worth taking the time to explicitly think about (1) what your goals are for the technology and (2) what type of licenses and licensees you should seek to meet those goals.
I’m pleased to bring you this month’s list of articles that we at Fuentek feel are worth reading. Many of these are pretty new, while some are oldies but goodies. Several of the pieces hovered around a similar theme, resulting in a slightly longer list despite the shorter month. Good thing we have leap day this year!
Updated September 2016 • Whether you are a technology transfer manager seeking licensees for an innovation or an entrepreneur launching a technology-based startup, constructing an effective technology overview and its value proposition is paramount. These two related items play a crucial role in understanding and cultivating market interest in the technology. You use them in gathering market feedback as well as in implementing the marketing strategy. So what are they?
The impending shift from a “first to invent” to a “first inventor to file” structure under the recently passed America Invents Act is causing quite a bit of turmoil in the technology transfer industry. The U.S. Patent and Trademark Office has provided some explanations via FAQs and a letter from director Kappos, yet the rumblings continue. Some in the industry suggest that the appropriate response is to file quick-and-dirty provisionals on virtually everything that comes in the door. I’m sure technology transfer offices (TTOs) hear this advice. But I sincerely hope they do not heed it.
Fuentek is gearing up for the annual meeting of the Association of University Technology Managers® (AUTM®) annual meeting March 14-17 in Anaheim, California. This year we’ll be participating on two interesting panels, and we couldn’t be more excited about it! Fuentek president Laura Schoppe is hosting the panel “Tailoring Your Web Site to Match Your Technology Transfer Office’s Goals.” The panel will give attendees lots of ideas for ways in which they can redesign their own sites. Next up, I’m pleased to join the panel “Frequently Asked Questions about Intern Programs.” This session will draw on industry best practices to answer questions about the Who, What, When, Why, and How surrounding internship programs.
There have been a lot of articles recently about universities giving away IP rights for free. The specifics of each vary, and most seem to have advantages that will help accelerate the transfer of technology. But some go further than others.
AUTM’s Global Technology Portal is an exciting new tool that showcases academic technologies available for licensing. It will help facilitate license agreements, collaborative research agreements, and partnership or investment arrangements for university startups.
