Summer is a great time of year to be in Minneapolis. (I used to row under that bridge!) And it’s particularly nice when I also get to participate in a session at the AUTM Central Region Meeting. The session—Ownership in the University Setting: Do You Own What You Think You Own?—will discuss the often complex intellectual property (IP) issues that occur in the university setting.
At a growing number of universities, technology transfer offices (TTOs) are being asked to educate students about protecting IP, evaluating a technology’s market potential, licensing, and so forth. Making classroom connections has several benefits for the TTO. Read about AUTM panelists’ efforts as well as university training offerings for current and future tech transfer professionals.
What makes an invention disclosure a high-quality invention disclosure? This is an interesting question that has nothing to do with the quality of the technology. Fundamentally, a high-quality disclosure includes enough detail for a patent attorney to identify novel aspects for patentability. It also includes the inventor’s perspective on the technology’s commercialization value. This helps the TTO to better evaluate the invention’s market potential and commercialization options. Unfortunately, many invention disclosure submissions come up short. The possible reasons for this vary. But mostly it seems to boil down to a lack of researcher understanding of the importance and role of the invention disclosure.
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…
Having spent 15+ years helping major research universities manage their intellectual property (IP), Fuentek knows a great deal about efficient and effective tech transfer. We’ve also seen that many universities struggle to explain this complex process to their stakeholders — administrators, researchers, and even legislators.
Keep in mind that many of the judges are shopping for employees. This is your chance to impress them. You might get a job out of it. Plus, the skills we’re talking about today are relevant for the rest of your life: getting a job or your next slug of funding, pitching projects internally, negotiating for salary/promotion. Even if you become a professor, you’ll be selling all the time as you try to get lab equipment or funding. Like it or not, you will constantly be selling for the rest of your professional life in order to advance your career.
Technology Transfer Tactics ran an in-depth article on best practices for handling departing faculty researchers, post-docs, visiting researchers, and the like. As one of the sources quoted, I was pleased to see the thorough treatment this topic received, because bad things can happen if you don’t stay in front of intellectual property (IP) issues when it comes to transitioning faculty…. There was a lot of great advice in the article. Here’s my take on a few key recommendations.
Today you get a sneak peek at a webinar I’ll be moderating next Tuesday, July 21st to teach technology transfer offices (TTOs) how to coach researchers on speaking with potential collaborators, funders, licensees, and others. These skills also apply when the innovator is launching a startup and talking to venture capitalists (VCs)… even those featured on Shark Tank. Called “Best Practices for Coaching Researchers on Pitching to Investors, Licensees, and Partners,” this Technology Transfer Tactics webinar will focus on…
In her recent Wall Street Journal article “Universities Push Harder Into Realm of Startups,” reporter Ruth Simon observed that “universities are stepping up efforts to create ‘spinouts,’ or business startups born from some of the cutting-edge research of their students or faculty. Some schools are creating funds that help cover startup costs.” She mentions several schools’ efforts to support their spinout/startup companies, including the University of Minnesota’s Discovery Capital Investment Program, the University of Wisconsin’s Ideadvance Seed Fund, and the University of California’s independent UC Ventures. Yet another funding trend is occurring that focuses on an earlier segment of the commercialization pipeline, seeking to address what Simon rightly observed as an obstacle to university spinouts: “Technologies emerging from research labs are often embryonic.” This trend, known as translational funding, is more and more in the news.
A few weeks back, I read Victoria Schramm’s post on Forbes.com called “5 Reasons Why Undergrad Entrepreneurship Courses Aren’t Producing Entrepreneurs.” Given Schramm’s valid points, I’d like to suggest 5 ways to make undergraduate students more entrepreneurial.
