In many respects the marketing of IP is a “numbers” game; the more technology you market (assuming you have vetted it properly), the greater your chances of success. One way to boost those numbers is to increase disclosures, and Richard Kordal, PhD, director of the Louisiana Tech Department of Intellectual Property & Commercialization, has focused heavily internal marketing to faculty to boost those numbers, with strong evidence of success. Kordal says that the “spirit of cooperation and innovation” his office and university leadership foster has led to a disclosure rate higher than the national average. “If you look at the AUTM survey for the last several years and you divide the total number of disclosures by all universities and then divide by research expenditures and multiply by 10, you get your ratio of disclosures per $10 million of research expenditures,” he explains. “For the last several years that ratio has held at about four disclosures per 10 million, and depending on the year we are three or four disclosures higher than that.”

Kordal calls this “a measure of your innovation productivity — how many new discoveries and inventions are being made per dollars spent on R & D.” He also stresses that “the more opportunities you have to license technology, the more success you will have.” Bearing that in mind, the university spends a great deal of time and energy recognizing faculty members who are successful at licensing or patenting technology. For example, it most recently presented Certificates of Commemoration to first-time inventors; faculty that have reported inventions and submitted patent applications to the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office; and those who have had their technologies licensed to an outside company for commercialization. “The awards ceremony helps a lot,” says Kordal. “It is important to honor faculty members and recognize their achievements and accomplishments.” The award recipients are given modest honoraria (enough to buy a nice dinner), plaques, and certificates. The ceremony is generally held once a year. Of particular note is the recognition of inventors who have made disclosures for the first time — the “new kids on the block,” as Kordal calls them. “You will always get your share of serial inventors, but we try to involve as much faculty in disclosures as we can,” he says. A detailed article on these internal marketing strategies appears in the December 2009 issue of Intellectual Property Marketing Advisor. For subscription information, CLICK HERE.

Posted December 22nd, 2009 under Intellectual Property Marketing

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