Finding an idea. “Universities are brimming with new ideas from their students, their professors, and their own research, but need entrepreneurs from the real world to decide which ones are viable in the marketplace,” says Zwilling. “Start by contacting a professor in your area of interest or expertise.”

Research and development. Take advantage of the labs, equipment, and skilled students available and looking for real world problems to research, Zwilling advises. “They are likely to be able to get grants to fund development for you in strategic focus areas, like alternative energy sources, that would otherwise cost you many thousands of dollars,” he notes.

Business plan creation. “Every university has educational courses and can provide assistance on creating your initial plan,” Zwilling points out. “Look for evening courses or special programs for entrepreneurs, like the ASU Technopolis program, which are available to non-students.”

Funding. “Don’t look here for venture capital levels of funding, but certainly early-stage government grants, incubators, and entrepreneurship incentives are available from endowments and state funds,” Zwilling shares.

Legal advice. “Most universities have some sort of an entrepreneurship legal clinic, to address concerns like protection of intellectual property,” says Zwilling. “Start by contacting the school entrepreneurship support organization.”

Finding a team. “If you need part-time engineers to build a prototype, you can always find high-caliber grad students with the latest theory ready to work,” Zwilling observes. “If you need experienced executives, the best professors and entrepreneurship staff will have the contacts you need into the local talent pool.”

Mentoring. “Similar to finding experienced executives, you can use university contacts who do consulting in the real world,” says Zwilling. “Most schools also foster relationships with local executives, whom they use to lecture in MBA courses, judge student business plans, and assign as mentors for spinoffs.”

Source: Cayenne Consulting

Take a look at the individual titles included in the library:

• Escaping the Valley of Death: Overcome the Funding Gap for Early-Stage University IP
• Launch Your Own VC! Create Your Own Funding Vehicle For University Technologies
• VCs and Angels speak to TTOs: ‘Here’s what we want to see — and what we don’t’
• The Perfect Elevator Pitch: Sell Your IP in 3 Minutes or Less!
• Start-up Best Practices: Funding Options and Opportunities
• Start-up Best Practices: Pitching Techniques To Get The Funding You Need

For complete details and to order, CLICK HERE.

For the past two years, the MAG panel has met quarterly with Mars’ marketers to review their proposed work. During these meetings, the MAG members have been shown campaign ideas, often at an early stage (such as a script or draft artwork), and asked how they measure up against Mars’ social responsibility code. If a campaign fails to pass muster with the panel, those recommendations are taken into account.

David Lourie, senior consultant at the responsible business consultancy Good Business, commends Mars for linking corporate affairs with its actual marketing practices. “There’s sometimes a disconnect between the corporate teams and the brand managers, but it is the brand teams that can potentially do the biggest damage to the reputation of the company,” he warns.

Lourie cites the example of Cadbury’s ‘Get active’ campaign — a widely criticized promotion that encouraged children to collect chocolate wrappers to exchange for comparatively small amounts of sports equipment for schools — as something that would not have gotten past MAG reviewers.

Source: Marketing Magazine

• TTOs: Fast-Track Your Innovations — Wednesday, September 15, 2010
• Get Your Student Body on the Innovation Team — Thursday, September 23, 2010
• Best Practice Mentorships and Executive-In-Residence Programs — Wednesday, September 29, 2010

Creative services staff helped Armstrong with the focus groups, which included staff, faculty members, and some outside organizations. “We held five or six of them,” he says. “They mainly involved faculty users and our staff; we wanted their thoughts on how they would use the site and what they would want us to do with it.” The focus groups yielded some revealing comments. “We learned we had to make it easier to get to the forms we have the faculty fill out for us,” says Armstrong. “We found it was more confusing than we thought in terms of where the faculty member needed to go. In the past you had to click through several levels, so we made it easier with pull-down menus.” The faculty members in the focus groups also said the disclosure forms were “a little more complicated than we thought,” Armstrong notes, so they were simplified as well.

The new site was also designed to meet a growing demand voiced by faculty and industry alike for a single clearinghouse of resources; it offers everything from primers on technology commercialization, policy statements on intellectual property, an individualized index of support staff, and a catalog and storehouse of forms covering topics from pre-disclosure to copyright and revenue sharing. A detailed article on this process appears in the August 2010 issue of Intellectual Property Marketing Advisor. For subscription information, CLICK HERE.

Keep in mind who will be using the CRM system and plan (and buy) accordingly. “Try to define your rationale for installing a system up front before you begin discussion with vendors,” suggests Scott Holden, director of product marketing at Salesforce.com. “Make sure that you put the user community at the center of defining your requirements.”

Make sure your CRM software integrates with other key systems. “If [your] CRM system is to be truly effective in converting prospects to revenue-generating customers and maximize renewals, [it] must integrate with other systems across [your] business,” states Paul Turner, director of product marketing at NetSuite.

How will the CRM system handle critical customer data? When evaluating a CRM system, make sure you understand how the system is going to manage customer information. To do this, Turner says decision-makers should ask the following four questions before purchasing:

• Will it arm your sales force with the business information they need beyond just sales information, such as past customer purchase history, current inventory levels and service issues?
• When the support team takes a call, will the CRM system enable them to be aware that the customer is close to a critical renewal, what their past purchases have been or whether that customer is about to purchase?
• Will your billing team have the ability to see customer service history so they can act accordingly when they have an aging account?
• Will it provide your sales and marketing team with a universal customer database so they can segment and target customers based not only on demographic characteristics, like employee size, but also based on transactional history such as previous products purchased, revenue generated and returns?

Define objectives and set baselines before rolling out your CRM system. “Clearly define the objectives of the project up front to determine what information should be stored in [your] CRM system and what information does not need to be managed,” says Holden, who adds: “sometimes less is better.”

Don’t skimp on training. “Your employees aren’t psychic — nor will the majority of them be familiar with your CRM system,” writes Schiff. “So to get the most of your CRM system, get a positive return on your investment and get your employees to actually use the software, make sure you set aside time to train each and every person you plan on having use …  the system — and periodically offer (or require) refresher courses or classes when there is an update.”

Choose which tools and features to implement with your sales force in mind. “Implement tools and dashboards that are easy to manage,” advises Holden. “When technologies are difficult to navigate, salespeople run out of patience.”

Think big, but start small. “To drive adoption and CRM success, don’t boil the ocean,” states Schneider, meaning you don’t have to — nor should you — implement every feature or tool in your new CRM system all at once.

Customize wisely. “Customization is key — but remember the ‘Five Levels of Why,’” advises Schneider. “Ask ‘why do we need this change?’ And actually ask ‘why?’ to the answer. If after four or five iterations of asking ‘why?’ the change still seems necessary, it probably is.”

Don’t forget about incorporating social media leads. “Make sure your CRM system allows you to input and track leads found on social media sites such as Facebook and Twitter — and encourage your salespeople and other users to use these sites to find and follow-up on leads,”  writes Schiff.

10. Monitor progress — and setbacks. “Business processes typically don’t improve without monitoring and measuring performance day in and day out — from the operational level to the strategic, and across each department,” notes Turner. “Business processes that are failing must be quickly identified so mid-course corrections can be made in a timely manner.”

Source: eCRM Guide

First, identify your objectives. “This simply means that you should have a clear idea of exactly what you hope to accomplish with social media marketing,” they write. “Do you want to gain X amount of subscribers to your opt-in e-mail newsletter list? Are you looking to boost sales year over year or month over month? Unless you know what you are trying to do, you won’t know whether you have done it or not.”

Measure your results by your SERPs, or Search Engine Results Pages. “If you are actively engaged in social media marketing on Facebook, for instance, and you jump to the front page in Google search results for your niche: Congratulations! It’s working!” says the site. “If you supply a steady source of fresh, updated, relevant content to your Twitter, Facebook or other social media platform, you should see results in your search ranking.”

Make sure that you have tied your results to your goals. In other words, if your goal was to boost traffic, then keep up with the stats on how much your traffic is increasing. “If your goal was to improve brand recognition,” the site notes, “this is much harder to measure. So, for the results that you want to track, it is best to have goals that are less ambiguous and easier to measure.”

Source: Drop Ship News

In licensing deals, the inventor’s expertise becomes a selling point. “When we enter into a license, part of that agreement is that the scientist is available for any research issues that might come up,” says Griesbach. “We have to make sure there is a research expert available.” So, for example, if there was an ornamental plant with a rooting problem, the research scientist would be required to fix the problem so the plant could get out to the market. “In a university,” Griesbach notes, “once you have the license you’re on your own.”

The ARS, says Griesbach, also takes extra steps to make sure the IP is ready to be marketed; the agency requires a business plan describing how the licensee would get the IP to the consumer or stakeholder. “The business plan is a critical part of the license; in fact, without it, you can’t get a license,” he asserts. “We make sure the licensees have an adequate business plan — they create it and we review it.” Because of this requirement, he adds, the IP does not always go to the highest bidder. “Our goal is not income, but the successful transfer of the technology,” he explains. That approach has apparently been successful. On its website the ARS claims to be “a leader in the Federal government in transferring new technologies developed from our scientific research to the marketplace,” and posts a number of ‘technology success stories’ to prove its point. “We probably have the highest number of products [among federal agencies] that we’ve licensed actually selling,” Griesbach asserts. A detailed article on the ARS marketing approach appears in the August 2010 issue of Intellectual Property Marketing Advisor. For subscription information, CLICK HERE.

• How to analyze diagnostic claims
• The significance of the “detecting” step with regard to novelty
• The relevance of any “mental steps” involved in patent claims
• What to expect from the Federal Circuit
• The significance of genetic methods as a subset of medical diagnostic claims
• The relationship between information per se and methods of obtaining information.

For complete information and to enroll, please CLICK HERE >>>

Plus, don’t miss these upcoming distance learning programs:

• TTOs: Fast-Track Your Innovations — Wednesday, September 15, 2010
• Get Your Student Body on the Innovation Team — Thursday, September 23, 2010
• Best Practice Mentorships and Executive-In-Residence Programs — Wednesday, September 29, 2010

Crowther carries nine different versions of his own card. “It’s as much a marketing piece as your website, your brochure, or anything else that you do,” he says. Several of his cards include a photograph of himself taken from above, and one has an offer on the back for 20 free tips on how to use social media to build a business if you get in touch with him. He says that 20% of the people who get that card send him an e-mail.

Why include a picture? “You go to a convention, and you come home with 55 cards in your pocket,” Crowther says. “If one or two cards have photos, you’ll remember those people.” That’s the point of most of Crowther’s tips; to make your card stand out in the crowd. For that reason, he likes unconventional sizes and formats. He also applauds the use of humor and cleverness. One of his favorites is the card of a freelance Santa Claus who makes appearances at parties and events. The card is a mock driver’s license for Santa with the notation “authorized to drive with up to 12 reindeer.”

Crowther also advises leaving un-embossed white space on your card, so that recipients will have a place to make notes. Especially if your card doesn’t have a photo, a person who gets it is likely to want to jot down a couple of reminders about you. In addition, he says, consider leaving off your street address and including only your e-mail address or cell phone number. Or, you might want to include only your Facebook page URL or your Twitter address.

Source: Forbes

1. TTOs: Use Social Media Effectively to Market Your Innovations
2. The Perfect Elevator Pitch: Sell Your IP in 3 Minutes or Less!
3. Tech Transfer Marketing on a Shoestring: Guerilla Tactics in a Budget-cut World
4. Performing Market Research Studies: Testing the Waters to De-Risk Your IP Investments
5. Best Practices for Marketing University and Federal Lab Technologies
6. Shifting Your TTO from Market Push to Market Pull: Finding the White Space
7. Selling University IP in Cyberspace: Best Practices in Web-based Marketing
8. Great Ideas for Improving Faculty Outreach and Enhancing Researcher-TTO Relations
9. Marketing Your Innovations: Best Practices for Tech Transfer Professionals
10. Shrink Wrap Your University’s Technologies for Industry
11. Become Industry-Friendly: Transform Your TTO into a Licensee Magnet

For complete details on all programs and to order, CLICK HERE >>>

Awards from the National Science Foundation (NSF) and National Institutes of Health (NIH) rose dramatically in FY10. NSF contributions increased 40% to $6.8 million while NIH awards nearly tripled to $6.1 million. The funding supported a wide spectrum of projects and initiatives, but areas of particular strength included:

Instrument Acquisition for Campus and Community Use. Investigators secured significant funds from the NSF to acquire sophisticated instruments for research and education, including a $597,877 mass spectrometer and a $627,185 laser source and measurement system.

Cancer Research and Development of Treatment Methods. In the Department of Biological Sciences, chair/professor Denise Wingett and associate professor Cheryl Jorcyk both received NIH Academic Research Enhancement Awards to pursue their work and involve students. Wingett is engineering nanoparticles to preferentially kill cancer cells, which would improve the effectiveness of chemotherapy. Jorcyk is studying the mechanisms and potential blocking of a protein in the metastasis of breast cancer to bone.

Source: Boise State University Update

You also need to ensure that your business plan is updated on a regular basis as it is a living document, adds Cox. “You need to make sure that when something changes within your business that it is documented within your business plan,” she advises. “This will allow you to keep track of your businesses development and will ensure that you know what is happening in your business from start to finish.”

Preparing a business plan draws on a wide range of knowledge including finance, human resource management, intellectual property management, supply chain management, operations management, and marketing, Cox continues. “It can be helpful to view the business plan as a collection of sub-plans, one for each of the main business disciplines,” she says. “Within your business plan you should define your business position and your market. You need to outline your competitors and include any market research that you have conducted. You should be fully aware of your marketplace and understand the trends that happen within it. It is also a good idea to know what your competitors’ advantages and disadvantages are and then compare these to your own.”

Finally, says Cox, “once you have written your plan you should get at least two people to read through it to make sure that they understand it, while checking the grammar and spelling.”

Source: EzineArticles.com

Start taking social media seriously: “It’s time to stop experimenting and start managing your social media strategy,” she writes. “Create a policy around social media, even if you’re only a one-person operation. Your social media policy should include your objectives for each site and any rules you have around posts, articles, pictures, and so on.”

Get all your customer lists in a single place: By creating a master list, says Taylor, a small business owner can divide customers into categories and figure out the best way to market to each segment.

Create a brand: Even a simple car repair shop needs a name customers are more likely to remember in times of need. After establishing a brand, says Taylor, it may be useful to produce a video to help promote it.

Start a mobile marketing program: Taylor stresses that mobile marketing is one of the fastest growing channels worldwide. “Globally, twice as many people use text messaging as e-mail. Chances are your customers interact more with their PDA than they do with their computer,” she says.

Create a referral system: “Run a referral program that includes regular meetings with people who agree to enthusiastically refer you,” Taylor suggests. “Start by creating a referral guideline that outlines what sets your business apart, profiles your ideal customer, and describes what they might say that should trigger a referral to you.”

Focus on what the customer wants and try to market the product or service to them: Small businesses should have an idea of who their ideal clients are, and do everything in their power to attract them, says Taylor. By profiling the ‘perfect customer’ in detail, she notes, it may become easier to target marketing messages they’re most likely to respond to.

Source: NEBS

The technology was a logical candidate for a YouTube video, Kinsey continues. “It’s really amazing and the inventor has beautiful pictures and films of this cell, but in order to ‘get it’ you have to see it. So, the obvious thing is to shoot a little movie.” The “microtentacles” video includes not only comments from Stuart, but colorful images of the cells moving around. “We did not want to write out a script for him to memorize or read; we wanted it to be natural,” says Kinsey. “We wanted the passion of the inventor to get through; a lot of times we’ve found that when you sign a license what really does it is the personality of the inventor. When they are very passionate it really helps to sell the invention and it’s often why licensees want a relationship with the university.” (The microtentacles video can be accessed here.)

It was very simple to create the channel, he adds. “You go to YouTube, create an account, and they take you through it pretty much step by step — they give you a place where you can edit, determine what the background will look like, what video you want to play first, and so on,” says Kinsey. “It’s very self-explanatory.” The video has already grabbed media attention; there’s a report on the technology on the “Global Medical News” YouTube channel, featuring Stuart’s images. A detailed article on CVIP’s channel appears in the August 2010 issue of Intellectual Property Marketing Advisor. For subscription information, CLICK HERE.

Create unique content: “You need to show that you are the best in your sector,” says Farah. “The only way to prove that online is by publishing expert advice, unique articles, and competent accounts.” She also suggests you turn your Facebook page into a business catalog.

Causes and events: Supporting Facebook causes of relevance is another way to get your name known and recognized, Farah notes. “Get involved in charities, seminars, and professional events,” she suggests. “Spread the news about the events you are about to attend or support.”

Optimize for search engines: “Your content has to be rich in keywords that are relevant to you professional sector,” Farah advises. “In this way your page will be one of the first ones that people will see when searching for a specialized phrase of interest.”

Interact: “Once people discover your page and start asking questions, make sure that you respond quickly and knowledgeably,” says Farah. This will allow you to increase brand recognition and to get in touch with new potential clients, she explains.

Source: Helium

“The premise of the course is to plant the notion that having a good idea is not enough to change the world; you need to be able to do something with it — that might be a licensed discovery, a venture-capital-backed spin-out company, a grant-funded social enterprise, or simply being better at advocating for good new ideas in big organizations weighed down by inertia,” says course director Dave Jarman. “We have basically hot-housed the process over two days and enabled the researchers to meet some really interesting, inspiring, and useful people who might advance their careers in research.”

The program was attended by postgraduates drawn from the Advanced Composites Centre for Innovation and Science, the Bristol Centre for Functional Nanomaterials, the Bristol Chemical Synthesis Doctoral Training Centre, the Bristol Centre for Complexity Sciences, and the Industrial Doctorate Centre in Systems. The course is the first of its kind at the University and RED hopes to provide follow-up programs in future years for this cohort and to widen the program to involve more researchers from more disciplines.

Source: Bristol University

• TTOs: Fast-Track Your Innovations — Wednesday, September 15, 2010
• Get Your Student Body on the Innovation Team — Thursday, September 23, 2010
• Ensure Effective Leadership for University Start-Ups: Best Practice Mentorships and Executive-In-Residence Programs — Wednesday, September 29, 2010

Also, don’t miss the key legal advice from an expert panel coming August 26th in The Future of Patenting in Biomedicine: An In-Depth Look at The Effect of the Myriad Case on Gene Patenting and Genetic Diagnostics. CLICK HERE for details and to register.

In addition, he notes, a company by the same name has been established to facilitate branding; product design; design & development of a website to market the products; preparation of informational materials necessary for the software license on the site; and preparation of business cards and publication of corporate identity to facilitate the marketing process. The company’s software can be acquired with one- or two-year license rights depending upon the specific requirement of an organization, and can be used without any limitations.

Source: King Saud University

1. A Quick response goes a long way. “I can’t tell you how many complaints I’ve seen turned around with a quick reply,” says Berry. “If someone has an issue with your product or misunderstood your point of view, reach out and explain it to them. Most of the time when they realize that you’re actually paying attention and care, and that makes all the difference.”

2. You may have to respond as you, not your company. “When someone has a legitimate complaint, I’ve found one of the most effective things to do is reach out from your personal account,” Berry shares. “In my experience, when they realize they’re dealing with a real person who’s trying to help, people are more open and willing to listen.”

3. Give yourself more than 140 characters to respond. At times, notes Berry, it’s just impossible to help someone in 140 characters. “Instead, ask them how to connect off Twitter,” she suggests. “Shoot the complainant an e-mail or even give them a call and you’ll be surprised how far a little outreach goes.”

4. Let someone else respond for you. If there’s no way you can respond in a helpful way — e.g., if it would make you seem self-serving or maybe you’ve already tried and failed — it can be helpful to have someone else speak up for you, Berry advises. “If you have haters, you probably also have fans, and they’re probably very willing to spring to your defense,” she says. Consider bringing the issue to the attention of a few of your fans, Berry offers, but do so carefully and cautiously. “Only do it with people you have actual relationships with and only in a lightweight, non-pushy way,” Berry suggests. “I find the best way is actually to just privately ask for feedback on a complaint.”

5. Know when to let it go. “The truth is, you simply won’t be able to turn everyone around; the trick (I’m still working on it) is to not let it get to you,” says Berry. “No business or person is going to make it without having a few haters — so if you have some, you might just be doing something right. Just don’t take that line of thinking too far!”

Source: Mashable

“In general, there is a ‘Catch 22′ with early-stage technologies, in that you have something you want to license, enable, or encourage broad adoption of, but there are some technologies where there’s a risk the users will be reluctant or fearful to incorporate proprietary technology because there may be downstream issues,” explains Lisa Dhar, PhD, senior technology manager in the Office of Technology Management (OTM) at Urbana-Champaign. “They wonder: ‘Will the university try to reach through to my end product?’”

“Most of our pharma/industry customers are engaged in significant research activities prior to their commercializing a product,” adds Nate Wallock, PhD, technology transfer manager-chemistry with Sigma-Aldrich. “From their vantage point, they can be hesitant to adopt a new patented chemical technology in the research environment if there is uncertainty about the financial licensing model should they reach a commercial phase.” The solution to this problem was an innovative “IP-included, label license” strategy to encourage broad adoption of the university’s technologies.  These label licenses, Dhar explains, allow the licensees to grant their customers royalty-free access to Illinois’ IP in the use of the purchased materials.

“With the model we developed with the university, customers who purchase MIDA boronates (a class of very powerful building blocks used in carbon-carbon coupling reactions) from Sigma-Aldrich are assured, through the broad and non-limiting label license, that they can use the MIDA boronates under the university IP to manufacture downstream, high-value products (e.g., a pharmaceutical ingredient, an OLED for electronic displays) without fear of reach through royalties,” says Wallock. “By removing the question of reach through on the commercial side, our customers are more likely to adopt the technology in their research activities since they know that the technology can ‘travel’ through their entire research, development, scale-up, and commercialization value creation chain.” A detailed article on this new licensing model appears in the August 2010 issue of Intellectual Property Marketing Advisor. For subscription information, CLICK HERE.

Grinstaff has co-founded three companies that have now commercialized his ideas: Hyperbranch Medical Technology, Flex Biomedical, and Acuity Bio, which is commercializing a new drug delivery device for the prevention of tumor recurrence after surgical resection.

BU Technology Development had been sitting on the idea for such an event for at least two years, but was waiting for “the right time” to finally unveil it. BU wants to change the way people view the school. The new motto for the technology department is to “maximize collision and minimize friction.” The goal is to get people to meet each other, creating “collisions” that may result in the formation of new ventures.

Source: Bostinnovation

Brand Protection Agency was one of five Dallas business-to-business technology companies to graduate recently from Tech Wildcatters’ debut program. The entrepreneurs had 10 minutes to pitch their company to about 250 people, including dozens of potential investors. “When you’re an entrepreneur, you don’t have everything — you’re usually tech-wise or market-wise — and these kinds of programs are great to help match up people to build great companies,” Morris says. She and Borden were seeking $300,000 to hire more people to boost revenue from its current $135,000 to $11 million in three years.

The participating companies fine-tuned products, attracted customers, or focused on marketing and sales. Here’s the progress made by the other four companies:

• Concepta Systems Inc., which develops business forms that can be filled out online, tweaked its product and worked on its marketing program. It seeks $500,000 for sales and marketing.
• CollegeJobConnect launched a job search site for college students. It seeks $250,000 for business development, sales and marketing.
• Image Vision Labs, developer of an online filter for pornographic images and videos, added several test customers, including Photobucket. It seeks $500,000 for customer, patent and software development.
• Mobestream Media, which developed a mobile loyalty card program, landed La Madeleine and Mooyah Burgers & Fries as its first test clients. It seeks $500,000 to hire employees and support a customer roll-out in the next 18 months.

Tech Wildcatters’ staff and mentors introduced the entrepreneurs to customers, helped them devise sales, marketing, and financial strategies, and coached their investor pitches. Investors said they were impressed with the presentations. Venture capitalist Alan Ying of Chrysalis Ventures in Houston said he was interested in all five companies. Dallas angel investor John Rodakis, who also was a Tech Wildcatters mentor, said he already is talking with a couple of the companies regarding potential investment. (Editor’s note: click here for information on a 9-hour DVD: Start-Up Boot Camp for University TTO Professionals and Inventors.)

Source: Dallas Business News

Plus, don’t miss these upcoming distance learning programs:

• International Patenting Strategies: Cost-Effectively Expand Your Market and Boost Your TTO’s Revenues — This Thursday, August 5, 2010
• Bilski: The Impact of the Final Decision on University TTOs — Tuesday, August 17, 2010
• The Future of Patenting in Biomedicine — Thursday, August 26, 2010

Define your target audience. Who are you trying to market to, and which social media platform are they using? Are there business owners or certain employees that you are targeting? Where are they getting their information? Derek Edmond, a managing partner at Waltham, MA-based B2B marketing firm KoMarketing Associates, suggests using the search function that most social media sites have. “Most of these sites even have an advanced search option, so that you can scour through regions and titles,” Edmond says.

Monitor before you act. Once you have defined your target audience and started developing your B2B contacts, don’t immediately start spamming your latest press releases, says Edmond. The key is to contribute to the conversation before you jump in trying to market services. “If there’s a Twitter chat going on, join the chat before trying to promote your agenda,” he says. “Anyone can post a link to Twitter, but the question is, how do you make them pay attention to it?” One effective way of searching for topics and active conversations on Twitter, he says, is to click on or search for certain hashtags relevant to your industry.

Communicate your message. One of your primary goals should be to offer resources and knowledge to your followers, says David Armano, senior VP of digital marketing firm Edelman Digital. “The key is to provide value through thought leadership,” he says. There are several options, he notes, including posting reports and presentations initiating interaction on LinkedIn, or organizing events.

Be cautious throughout your marketing. Edmond warns that social media shouldn’t be thought of as a direct sales tool with B2B clients, or you’ll end up disappointed. “If you’re dealing with enterprise-level software or a business advertising contract, for example, it’s less likely that you’re going to see a Twitter update about that,” he says. Think of social media as more a generator of quality leads, since “often it can take months, if not quarters, for a client to actually close business.”

Use analytics to measure your marketing efforts. With any online marketing strategy, it’s imperative to have some type of analytics tool in place that will help you set goals and measure your success. “Where are people leaving, and where are they coming in?” poses Edmond. “What are the search terms or key words they are using to get to your site? These are the questions analytics tools help you to answer.” Edmond advises using tools like Google Analytics, Omniture, or Marketo to measure the quality of your traffic and put conversion methods in place. HootSuite, a Twitter application, also has an analytics tool that allows you to track and measure the effectiveness of your tweets.

As you develop and refine your B2B marketing strategy, Edmond says, don’t forget that providing answers to peers and potential customers is arguably the most effective social media marketing tactic. “You might be ignored, but you’re trying to foster the problem-solving aspect of social media,” he explains.

Source: Inc.

It doesn’t hurt to ask why — and to offer to send e-mails less frequently. First of all, says Carissa Newton, director of marketing for Delivra, honor the customer’s request immediately. But before the unsubscribe process is complete, ask if the individual wants to change preferences instead. “For example, take them to a profile center with a message centered around asking them if they would simply like to change their preferences, frequency, etc.,” she says. “If they are still set on unsubscribing, let them do it with a simple click at the bottom.”  Once that is submitted, she says, either send a confirmation page with a quick fill-in box asking why he or she is unsubscribing, or send one last follow up e-mail with the confirmation and a survey link. “While you want to make it simple and easy, it can’t hurt to ask why; chances are that someone will give you feedback that you could use to improve your program moving forward,” says Newton.

Be graceful. Send a thank you note for their past patronage, advises VIndicia senior VP Sanjay Sarathy. Then, make yourself available. Marketers have learned to increase their footprint in the social communities in which their prospects participate, says Jake Wengroff, global director of corporate communications at Frost & Sullivan. “Syndicating content and linking to the usual suspects — Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, SlideShare, etc. – can facilitate this process so that the opt-out will sooner or later stumble upon relevant, compelling content from the company,” he notes.

Source: MarketingVOX

• Keep the plan short. “You can cover everything you need to convey in 20 pages of text,” Berry asserts. If necessary, he says, create a separate white paper for other details and reports. “The one-page Oprah plan is a good executive summary, but it’s not enough to get the investment,” he cautions.
• Polish the overall look and feel. Aside from the wording, says Berry, you also want the physical look of your text to be inviting. “Stick to two fonts in a standard text editor, like Microsoft Word,” he counsels. “The fonts you use should be common sans-serif fonts, such as Arial, Tahoma or Verdana, 10 to 12 points.”
• Don’t use long, complicated sentences. Short sentences are the best, says Berry, because they read faster, and reader comprehension is higher in all audiences.
• Avoid buzzwords, jargon, and acronyms. “You may know that NIH means ‘not invented here’ and KISS stands for ‘keep it simple, stupid,’ but don’t assume anybody else does,” says Berry.
• Use simple straightforward language. Berry says you should stick with the simpler words and phrases, like “use” instead of “utilize” and “then” instead of “at that point in time.”
• Bullet points are good. Bulleted items help organize and prioritize multiple elements of a concept or plan, notes Berry, “but avoid cryptic bullet points; flesh them out with brief explanations where explanations are needed,” he says.
• Don’t overwhelm the plan with too many graphics and flashy colors. Pictures and diagrams can effectively illustrate a point, Berry concedes, but too many of them come across as clutter.
• Use page breaks to separate sections. Also use them to separate charts from text and to highlight tables, says Berry. “When in doubt, go to the next page,” he adds. “Nobody worries about having to turn to the next page.”
• Use white space liberally, spell-check, and proofread. Include one-inch margins all around, says Berry. Always use your spell-checker. Then, proofread your text carefully to be sure you’re not using a properly spelled incorrect word.
• Include a table of contents. “No investor likes searching every page for key data, like executive credentials, or exit strategy,” says Berry. “Most word processors these days can automatically generate a table of contents from your section headings; use it.”

Source: Startup Professionals Musings

On August 17th, a top level team of legal experts and TTO professionals will specifically address the implications of the Supreme Court’s Bilski decision on university IP and the future patentability of business methods. Bilski: The Impact of the Final Decision on University TTOs will address many key questions arising from the ruling, including: How will inventions of an “abstract” nature be defined? How will the “machine or transformation” test continue to influence PTO examiners? How should patent prosecution change to help ensure validity? How does the decision affect plans for appeals/reconsiderations? What about existing method patents, and the impact on both value and infringement? For complete details and to register, CLICK HERE.

The following Thursday, August 26th, delves into the complex issues surrounding gene-based patents in the wake of the Myriad decision. The Future of Patenting in Biomedicine: An In-Depth Look at the Effect of the Myriad Case on Gene Patenting and Genetic Diagnostics will address host of issues including:

• How to analyze diagnostic claims
• The significance of the “detecting” step with regard to novelty
• The relevance of any “mental steps” involved in patent claims
• What to expect from the Federal Circuit
• The significance of genetic methods as a subset of medical diagnostic claims
• The relationship between information per se and methods of obtaining information.

For complete information and to enroll, please CLICK HERE.

Plus, don’t miss these upcoming distance learning programs:

• Bullet-Proof Your License Agreements: Prevent Post-License Disputes and Shed Dead-Weight Licensees — Thursday, July 29, 2010
• International Patenting Strategies: Cost-Effectively Expand Your Market and Boost Your TTO’s Revenues — Thursday, August 5, 2010

1. First and foremost, search engines from Google, through to Baidu in China, to Yandex in Russia, prefer ‘local,’ says Holbrook. “In order to do well in competitive markets you need to analyze both your local and global competition in each target market,” he advises. “For example, some search engines prefer sites hosted locally, with country-specific domain names.”

2. Don’t base your keyword research on translations of English, either for PPC or SEO, warns Holbrook. For example, Oban recently found a ‘perfect’ German translation of a technology term, but it had only 140 searches a month on it. “Our German team then identified a term that was actually being used, which had over 40,000 searches a month,” he notes.

3. Social media can be a great marketing tool; however, it is used very differently across the globe, Holbrook observes. “In China QQ.com is by far the most popular social networking site, whereas our good old friends Facebook and Twitter are banned,” he notes. “To maximize the effects of social media marketing, make sure that your social media strategy is specific to the region and market you are targeting.”

When it comes to taking your website to a foreign market, Holbrook continues, the one key fact to always remember is that localization is the most important part of international search engine optimization and marketing. “Every country uses the Internet and search differently, and the differences can be huge,” he stresses. “By researching the culture, the language, and the political and religious practices of a region, as well as the Internet trends, businesses will be able to develop an effective and successful marketing strategy for the market they are aiming for.”

Source: B2C Marketing Insider

• Royalty Rates for Technology, 4th Edition
• Royalty Rates for Pharmaceuticals and Biotechnology, 6th Edition
• Royalty Rates for Technology: Medical Devices and Diagnostics Edition
• Royalty Rates for Technology: Computer and Communications Edition
• Royalty Rates for Trademarks and Copyrights, 4th Edition

CLICK HERE for complete details >>

Step 1: Engaging in Internet market research to answer the following preliminary questions:

- Who is our target audience? They should be categorized by industry, demographics, or search habits, notes Irbtrax.
- What content or trends appear to be most appealing to our target audience?
- Roughly what percent of our target audience is involved in social networking?
- Can we integrate any of the existing platforms we currently utilize or content we distribute?

Step 2: Reaching out to current clients or customers for feedback about their social media involvement:

- Use brief and non-intrusive e-mails or other forms of communication to solicit feedback Irbtrax advises.
- Look for common trends, whether through the actual social media sites, usage, or client opinions.

Step 3: Deciding which social media platform best reaches your target market:

- Use feedback gained during step two to determine whether it’s Facebook, Twitter, or another networking option, says Irbtrax.

- Learn what third-party services or tracking resources support your choice to help optimize long-term results. The firm has made available a detailed release that compares the benefits and strengths of Facebook vs. Twitter for businesses and online marketing at www.onlineprnews.com

Step 4: Start basic and use a ‘soft launch’ approach if necessary.

- Irbtrax suggests using a soft launch approach prior to full engagement to allow for future flexibility.
- Start with the basics and add more complex options like videos, blogs, and other features as needed.
- Follow where trends lead. “Refine approaches, capitalize on opportunities, and monitor your competition’s social media efforts,” Irbtrax advises.

Source: Release-News.com

Many TTOs, Gilbert asserts, “Set up barriers, fees, and delays. We not do that; we empower the faculty, with a focus on startups.” This approach, he says, is a key reason why Caltech receives more invention disclosures per faculty member than any other university in the nation, according to AUTM’s annual survey. “A key measure of performance is your number of disclosures,” he says. “We had 180-200 disclosures from 150 faculty members.”

One of the clearest examples of how Caltech “empowers” faculty members is how they approach disclosures. “Over the last several years we have filed provisional applications on every disclosure,” says Gilbert. “As a consequence, we do not have to worry about evaluations. Ten months later we’ll see how things look. The inventor will either say things are great and we should go ahead, or maybe they’ve not done much with it, and they’re indifferent, or they want us to roll it over.”

In other words, says Gilbert, “we want the faculty member to tell us to file or not to file. Do we get stuck with bad IP? Sure, but the idea is building a trust relationship with the faculty; that’s why we have so many disclosures.” Gilbert believes this strategy enables Caltech to capture the vast majority of technologies developed on campus. “We don’t capture 100% — no one does - but we think we capture about 90% of what’s out there,” he asserts.”Most institutions only look at 40% to 60%; the number they get is indicative of how solid their relationship is with their faculty.” A detailed article on the Cal Tech strategy appears in the July 2010 issue of Intellectual Property Marketing Advisor. For subscription information, CLICK HERE.

Swallow offers the following “laundry list” of issues that need to be addressed when it comes to improving corporate blogs:

1. Establish a content theme and editorial guidelines. “When creating a product or service, you must be able to define the value that it’s bringing to consumers,” says Swallow. “In the case of a blog, you need to clearly define the focused theme that your team will follow. Choose a blog name and theme that fits well with your company’s expertise, but don’t be afraid to branch out into a larger space.”

2. Choose a blogging team and process. Swallow recommends that you choose a team of core bloggers. “Select individuals that are knowledgeable and comfortable writing about the areas you would like to cover,” she says. “Also, it’s key to choose people who write well and have a great online presence.”

3. Humanize your organization. “A company blog is an opportune place to let down your hair and get to know your customers,” says Swallow. “Think of it as a conversation between people, not between a brand and one person.”

4. Avoid PR and marketing. This may sound like strange advice for a marketing tool, but if maintained correctly, your blog will act as a repository of real analysis and opinions provided by your company’s employees, says Swallow. “The type of insight and expertise that a blog can demonstrate is far more useful than any PR pitch that you could post,” she says. “Stay away from trying to sell your readers. There are appropriate venues for that . . .  your blog shouldn’t be one of them.”

5. Welcome criticism. “Oftentimes, corporations shy away from opening up their websites and blogs for commenting and interaction, because they are afraid of the harm that criticisms may cause,” notes Swallow. She advises establishing “a policy to welcome criticism, thinking of it as an opportunity for feedback and improvement.”

6. Establish a comment policy. “Be aware that if you open up your blog for full feedback (which you should), you will get a variety of comments — constructive, complimentary, hateful, and spam; be prepared for everything,” Swallow advises. “Create a comment policy that your team can follow, and make sure everyone is on same page. Outline the types of comments that should be responded to, deleted or passed along for follow-up.”

7. Get social. Make sure your blog also utilizes share tools such as Facebook, Twitter, and Digg, says Swallow. “Share tools allow your users to pass along your content; why not allow your readers to promote your work?”

8. Promote your blog effectively. Just as you would promote any other company initiative, get the word out about your blog, says Swallow. “Share the URL on your website, social networks, business cards, e-mails, and advertisements,” she recommends.

9. Monitor mentions and feedback. One way to get a pulse on your blog and its effects on the community is to monitor mentions and feedback, Swallow notes. “Set up Google Alerts for your brand, blog name, and any keywords that might be relevant,” she says. “Search on Technorati and Twitter for those set terms.”

Source: Yahoo! News

Site Analysis: “By using Alexa’s Site Info search, you can get information on what traffic you’re getting now, what your rank is within Alexa, what that rank is inside your country of residence, and the number of sites linking in,” says Mikulin. “By clicking on ‘Get Details’ you can get traffic ranks for countries all over the world. You can use this information to determine whether you need to focus on placing more backlinks to your site, or whether you need to work more on targeting where the people who see those backlinks are.”

Demographics: You can also use Alexa to see just who it is that’s coming to your site. “On the lower left-hand corner of the details screen you’ll have an audience snapshot that shows you what the largest percentage of your traffic is,” Mikulin explains. “If you then click on ‘Get all audience demographics’ you’ll see the average age, education level, distribution of gender, whether or not they have children, and browsing locations. In addition, by downloading the Alexa toolbar you can get access to addition demographic information including income and ethnicity.” Once you’re gained that knowledge, Mikulin poses, “wouldn’t it be helpful to know where your target market is going when they’re not coming to you?” Back in the Site Info tool, she notes, you can enter the websites of your top competitors and compare them to your own; for example, is their traffic better?  “By clicking on Clickstream, you can first determine where this traffic went before it came to your competitor’s site, and then look at Search Analytics for information on the search queries used to get there,” Mikulin explains. “If your similar site doesn’t have these keywords, or isn’t well-optimized, this is yet another insight as to where you might be losing traffic.”

Visitor Interactivity: Finally, says Mikulin, Alexa allows you to add widgets to your site that offer insight into how you can improve your site and attract more traffic — from the visitors themselves. “By offering ways to integrate Alexa data into your website itself, including adding a review platform that allows customers to individually rate and comment on your site, you will receive valuable feedback that can help you improve your site as a whole,” says Mikulin.

Go to: Helium

Plus, don’t miss these upcoming distance learning programs:

• Protect Your Patents from Inequitable Conduct Charges — this Thursday, July 22, 2010
• Bullet-Proof Your License Agreements: Prevent Post-License Disputes and Shed Dead-Weight Licensees — Thursday, July 29, 2010
• International Patenting Strategies: Cost-Effectively Expand Your Market and Boost Your TTO’s Revenues — Thursday, August 5, 2010

During the focus groups, he explains, faculty said they were confused about how to find the online forms. “In the past you had to click through several levels, so we made it easier with pull-down menus; now we have direct links,” he says. In addition to making the site more user-friendly, Armstrong continues, he wanted to extend its reach to audiences that were not traditionally accessing the old site. After all, he points out, the IURTC works with eight regional campuses across the state as well as with “Medical Education Centers” for medical students on a number of campuses. “We hope to generate a little more traffic, and more disclosures,” Armstrong says. “We want to let faculty all over the state know what we have done. We have included success stories, and details on how faculty have worked with us. This may be an enticement for some who have not worked with us in the past, and they may also share the information with others as well and get us in front of different groups.”

Alumni are also an important target audience, Armstrong continues. “As they get reconnected, we hope the site becomes a place where they can land and see what we’re doing in the tech transfer area,” he notes. “We’re also trying to develop a closer relationship with the alumni association. We have co-hosted events with them, so we hope that as we get the word out they will be enticed to look at the web site.”

Finally, says Armstrong, the new site is more personalized. “We’ve got more information about our business development managers, with updated pictures, backgrounds, and the areas of expertise they cover,” he explains. “We want to make sure folks know the backgrounds of the people who they can interact with.” Armstrong says he’s found that “not everyone around the university knows exactly what we do or have not heard of us at all, so we’re trying to make things as comprehensive as possible.”

Source: IU News Room

“A lot of these [IP exchange sites] had been around for several years,” notes Matthew Hamilton, PhD, president of Wellspring Worldwide. “We saw them as something like e-Bay; just lists, with so much static content in terms of what people could find. We found we needed to change — and the change came with four key components.” First, he says, Wellspring wanted to make sure that Flintbox connected with the idea of open innovation. “It needed to free — with no fees,” he explains. “So anyone could get a project onto the network.” This, in turn, leads to what he calls the ‘network effect.’  “The more people we have on [as users] the more valuable [the technologies] will be,” says Hamilton.”We will have the largest network of organizations on all six continents; we already signed up over 300 organizations to spin ideas through the network. We will be moving them all onto Flintbox over the next two months.”

The second component, says Hamilton, is making sure there is corporate involvement. “We don’t just want [industry] to search for technologies, but to also be engaged in the platform,” he notes. “We’ve made some progress in this area; we’re working with Merck using the platform to connect with a community of researchers who are collaborating with them on a project.” Third, says Hamilton, Wellspring wants to include investors, economic development organizations, and trade groups. “BC Life Sciences and others represent a number of start-up firms with research projects coming out,” he explains. “The more developing start-ups come from the university community, the more we can attract new types of members like VCs and TBEDs.”

Finally, he says, the “new” Flintbox contains interactive tools. “We wanted to create a little more action,” he notes. “Threaded discussions can be built around projects — descriptions of technologies, IP, or research centers. Surveys can really draw people into conversations. We have connections with the social media tools, so all projects can be connected.” A detailed article on the Flintbox re-launch appears in the July 2010 issue of Intellectual Property Marketing Advisor. For subscription information, CLICK HERE.

1. Entering a new market, geography or industry segment;
2. Launching a new company, division, services, or products;
3. Supplementing internal sales, marketing, or solution teams to gain a speed to market advantage;
4. Mentoring existing sales and marketing leaders during transitional periods;
5. Developing and launching new sales strategies, go-to-market models, and pursuit processes.

Of all the challenges companies face in outsourcing sales and marketing, Carpenter continues, the most overlooked is committing to making decisions and executing quickly. Outsourcing should be viewed as a value as well as a time and budget saver, he adds. “There are two types of companies — “those that adapt to change and those that go out of business.”

Source: SPL Law

Use Energy Star equipment: “They now range from microwaves to water heaters,” notes Suetos. “The Energy Star program is funded by the government, and you can even get tax credits for using their devices.”

Use bamboo products: You now can purchase computer keyboards, a mouse, and even speakers made out of bamboo shell, Suetos notes. ”Not only could this be a great option for those of you who have clients coming in, but a great way to show potential employees you are environmentally conscious,” she says.

Cut down on paper: “This is good for your budget and for the environment,” Suetos notes. ”Using the front and back of documents will give you double use out of your money.”

Change to energy-wise light bulbs: “It isn’t too hard these days to find energy efficient light bulbs,” says Suetos. ”They may be a bit more expensive than a regular light bulb, but factoring in energy costs it really pays for itself. Another perk to these light bulbs is they usually (not always) last longer than traditional bulbs — again proving the ROI on the light bulbs.”

Turn in used electronics: If you like getting the latest and greatest tech devices, Suetos says there are now companies that recycle devices such as smart phones. “Also, buying computers and other devices through companies like this can be cheaper, and a form of recycling,” she adds.

Source: Ecopreneurist

1. Focus on your reader, not your product or service. “Think of your reader,” says Summers. “What’s in it for them? Give your copy an instant upgrade by inserting the word ‘you’ at least five times more than any existing copy you may have.”

2. Nail down your benefits quickly. “Know what your prospects and clients are really seeking, and give it to them with your fabulous copy,” says Summers, adding this tip: “People buy on emotion, and then back it up with logic. You may want to ponder this for a moment and think about your copy. Can you give your prospects and clients an entirely new emotional connection to your product or service?”

3. Start with a sensational headline. “Headlines that address quickly and concisely the heart of your target market’s concerns vs. just being gimmicky or offering a play on words is the easiest and most effective way to make a connection and convince them there is something valuable in this opportunity,” says Summers. “Also, if there happens to be a dollar amount in your headline that is appropriate for what your copy is about, write ‘$10,000′ vs. ‘ten thousand dollars.’ It makes the headline ‘pop’ more and is much more captivating.”

4. Write in a friendly, non-pitchy tone. “Write to your clients and prospects along the lines that you would talk with them; remember, online marketing is about establishing that you are REAL,” says Summers.

5. Keep it short and sweet. “If you are too wordy or miss out on adding the benefits for your readers in the beginning parts of your copy, you may lose your prospects and clients altogether; remember, your readers are busy and distracted,” says Summers.

6. Facts tell and testimonials sell. “One of the single biggest impacts you can make to your copy is including ‘happy raving fans’ with testimonials of your products and/or services,” Summers says. “When you share heartfelt testimonials from your clients, you become more real and you put your prospective client at ease, especially if that client is the ideal demographic.” She suggests making the testimonial easily consumable online via a mini-captivating headline in bold at the top of the testimonial that jumps out at your prospect or client as they read along. “And, if appropriate, say on a sales page, add a head shot of your client to personalize the testimonial,” she advises. “Did you know that when you have the image of a human body, baby or face your response rate jumps up a crazy 300-plus percent?”

7. Give a clear call to action three times. “Online marketers say three times is a charm — meaning, tell your prospective client what you want him to do three different times — most likely in three different areas of the copy,” Summers recommends.

8. Double and triple check for typos. “I always run a spell check two times, and then I ask [a colleague] to read the copy, too,” says Summers.

Source: The Financial Guru

1. TTOs: Use Social Media Effectively to Market Your Innovations
2. The Perfect Elevator Pitch: Sell Your IP in 3 Minutes or Less!
3. Tech Transfer Marketing on a Shoestring: Guerilla Tactics in a Budget-cut World
4. Performing Market Research Studies: Testing the Waters to De-Risk Your IP Investments
5. Best Practices for Marketing University and Federal Lab Technologies
6. Shifting Your TTO from Market Push to Market Pull: Finding the White Space
7. Selling University IP in Cyberspace: Best Practices in Web-based Marketing
8. Great Ideas for Improving Faculty Outreach and Enhancing Researcher-TTO Relations
9. Marketing Your Innovations: Best Practices for Tech Transfer Professionals
10. Shrink Wrap Your University’s Technologies for Industry
11. Become Industry-Friendly: Transform Your TTO into a Licensee Magnet

For complete details on all programs and to order, CLICK HERE.

Is it pay to play? Who are the speakers at the show you’re considering attending — and more important, how did they get their speaking slot? “It’s surprising how almost wilfully naïve marketers can be about how many trade show speakers buy their way onto the podium,” Lieb notes. “Speakers are very often the event’s sponsors, advertisers, media partners, or the vendors who are exhibiting at the conference. If speeches and sessions tend more toward the sales-y rather than the illuminating or educational, you’re going to be disappointed if you’re there to learn and to grow.”

Are their marketing techniques above board? One way to assess if the show will truly explore best practices, says Lieb, is to evaluate whether the conference itself is walking the walk. “Are they unduly bombarding your inbox with promotions, deals, and exhortations to sign up?” she questions.

Ask previous attendees “Who in your network has attended the conference in the past?” asks Lieb. “Would they recommend it? Why? What was the value they got out of it? You can put the word out to friends and co-workers, or throw up a query on Facebook, LinkedIn or Twitter.”

Why are you going? It’s never a bad idea to ask yourself why you’re inclined to attend a specific event, says Lieb. Are you after networking? Learning tactics and techniques? Keeping up with trends and technology? Shopping for vendors? “Make a list,” she recommends. “It will help ascertain if you want an event featuring a trade show (vendors); workshops (tactics); or a generous helping of social events for networking.”

What kind of infrastructure will you need? What are your must-have creature comforts, and are they going to be available at the event you’re considering? For example: Will the organizer offer wifi? Adequate power plugs for phones and laptops? Lunch? “On the surface, this stuff sounds picayune,” Lieb concedes, “but just wait until you’ve hit day three of a five-day conference with a dead phone, an angry client, and no charger in sight.”

Specialty event, or broad? Events today have become more and more specific and niche-minded, with entire conferences devoted to topics such as Twitter tactics or creating custom content, notes Lieb. “Determine your own focus before signing up.”

Could you be a speaker? “Consider sending in a pitch,” Lieb suggests. “You still get to attend the conference, but there’s a ton of value in presenting. Not only does it bolster your professional résumé and facilitate networking once people know who you are and what you’re good at, it also gets you in the door for free.”

Are you disciplined enough not to go? “These days many conferences, particularly the big ones and those centered around social media, are live-blogged, YouTubed, SlideShared and reported on ad infinitum,” Lieb notes. “If your goal isn’t so much the networking but the keeping up with trends — and you have the discipline to really dig into the social media fallout — perhaps you don’t actually have to travel hundreds of miles to actually be in the room.”

What’s the ROI? “As you would for a campaign or other marketing endeavour, establish ROI benchmarks for attending industry events,” says Lieb. In other words, what specific benefits can you anticipate garnering from your attendance. “[Ideas] you can put into action when you’re back at your desk? Expanding the lead pool? Landing a deal? Finding a vendor or candidates for an open position at your company? Establish goals for wringing value out of the event before you sign up and pack your bag,” she advises.

Source: Econsultancy

Even under the most carefully crafted agreement, you’ll occasionally be saddled with a licensee who just doesn’t play by the rules, experiences a business downturn that stalls its plans to commercialize your IP, or simply does not meet its obligations for reporting, payment, or product development. In some case, swift action must be taken to either compel compliance or shed these “dead weight” licensees. That’s why our Distance Learning Division has recruited a team of IP licensing experts to break down the drafting, reporting and auditing process to help you first draft airtight agreements and then successfully manage your licensees — or know when to cut them loose. Join Dan Burns of Daniel Burns and Associates and Angela Hodge from the University of Texas at Austin for a supremely practical 90-minute audioconference: Bullet-Proof Your License Agreements: Prevent Post-License Disputes and Shed Dead-Weight Licensees, to be held Thursday, July 29, 2010. This interactive workshop will be jam-packed with best practices for drafting rock-solid agreements, maintaining top-notch compliance and audit programs, and dealing effectively with problematic licensees. For complete details and to register, CLICK HERE.

Also coming soon:

• Protect Your Patents from Inequitable Conduct Charges — next Thursday, July 22, 2010
• International Patenting Strategies: Cost-Effectively Expand Your Market and Boost Your TTO’s Revenues — Thursday, August 5, 2010

Amber Ducote, account executive for Tara Biek Creative, an advertising and marketing firm, says it’s important to make sure every e-mail blast reflects the look of your organization. “It’s all about building a brand, whether you’re a new business or a company that’s been around for years,” she says. “The more your target audience ‘sees’ you, the more they’ll recognize you and remember you; over time they’ll feel like they know you.”

How often should you e-mail your customers?  Probably not daily, but more than once a month. “It’s important to not misuse your e-mail marketing lists,” Ducote notes. “Sending too many e-mail blasts any given month results in a numbed audience.”

Source: TCPalm.com

Which leads to research parks. “We act as generators as well as catalysts, and in order to do that we need to be able to have places where those things can happen. This continuum of innovation to commercialization to economic development is a pipeline that has been ‘assigned’ to universities.” At present, the system has a total of nine research parks and two incubators. Here is a sampling of its most recent activities:

• Ground has just been broken for the Missouri Plant Science Center in Mexico, MO, a joint venture between the UM System and the city of Mexico. Located on a donated 10-acre site, the center is expected to provide both laboratories and office space, allowing researchers to team up with start-up companies to market discoveries.

• Ground broke in May on the site of a new research park at the Missouri University of Science and Technology. The innovation park is being constructed atop what was once the campus’s 60-acre golf course.
• The Life Science Business Incubator in Columbia is just about 18 months old.
• The system is working with Fort Leonard Wood to expand the research park there by another 42 acres.

The UM system is not only actively building; it is successfully attracting new companies. “Our incubator opened just a little over a year and one-half ago, and it’s full; we’re looking at expansion plans,” says Nichols. “How many incubators in the country can even say they’re full after 10 years?” A detailed article on this strategy appears in the July 2010 issue of Intellectual Property Marketing Advisor. For subscription information, CLICK HERE.

The author explains: “Most websites do a bad job of SEO, but without it even the best website will struggle to get traffic. Any size of website can use SEO to boost their search engine rankings — you just have to know what the engines are looking for.”

The book is split into five parts, including how to build SEO into a website before development; current best practices; and how to maintain search engine rankings as sites develop. Beswick adds: “SEO is not something you do once and then stop — it’s an ongoing part of developing your web strategy and growing your online presence.”

Source: WiredPRNews.com

The high court unanimously agreed with a Federal Circuit ruling that threw out Bernard Bilski and Rand Warsaw’s patent on a method of hedging weather-related risk in energy prices. But the justices refused to weigh in on whether software, online-shopping techniques, medical diagnostic tests, and other business methods or processes can be patented. The court also upended the Federal Circuit’s ruling that “machine or transformation” was the “sole test” for patent eligibility. Rather, the decision reiterated a broad view of patent-eligible subject matter tempered by long-established exclusions for “laws of nature, physical phenomena, and abstract ideas.” The court said “machine or transformation” was never intended to be an exhaustive or exclusive test but only a “clue” as to what might be patentable subject matter.

“The fact business processes, and in particular marketing methods, are eligible for patent protection is often not well understood by most marketing professionals,” Christ notes. ”Such lack of awareness may cause significant problems on two fronts. First, marketers who are not aware that patents may be obtained on marketing methods could be giving away intellectual property rights and with it competitive advantage, including substantial loss of revenue. Second, and perhaps more important, a lack of understanding of business method patents may result in infringement lawsuits that could devastate a business.”

Christ notes that marketers seeking legal protection for their methods faced a roadblock under the “machine or transformation” standard, which had been widely adopted by USPTO examiners. However, the new ruling means business method patents based on process alone may not be totally dead. ”The result of [the latest court] decision is likely to lead to another wave of businesses submitting business method patent applications and, of course, a wave of lawsuits by patent owners,” Christ says. ”For these reasons, marketers should pay close attention.”

Source: KnowThis.com

When these issues arise, it’s critical that they be met with tact, responsiveness, administrative support, and an approach that addresses faculty concerns while also protecting the university’s interests. That’s why we’ve lined up two tech transfer/legal experts to provide detailed guidance on navigating the thorny issues so often involved in these disputes. Join us next Tuesday, July 13th for Prevent Faculty Disputes From Turning Into a Declaration of War a unique audioconference featuring a combination of legal advice from Jean Baker, PhD, JD, of Quarles and Brady and real-world examples and lessons learned from SUNY-Stony Brook’s Chester A. Bisbee, PhD, JD. For complete details and to register, CLICK HERE.

Also coming soon:

• SPECIAL 6-PART SERIES! Start-Up Boot Camp for University TTO Professionals and Inventors — Final session this Thusday, July 8th: “Gauging Economic Impact and Outcomes”
• Protect Your Patents from Inequitable Conduct Charges — Thursday, July 22, 2010
• Bullet-Proof Your License Agreements: Prevent Post-License Disputes and Shed Dead-Weight Licensees – Thursday, July 29, 2010
• International Patenting Strategies: Cost-Effectively Expand Your Market and Boost Your TTO’s Revenues — Thursday, August 5, 2010 ~ 1:00-2:30 pm (Eastern Daylight Time)

Choose text over images: “Images may be more compelling and attractive, but they will slow down your mobile landing page,” says Chai. “For now, the iPhone and other mobile phones are best used with contextual ads; that means creating compelling copy on your text ads and using common fonts.” Text ads, he explains, are easier to enlarge or reduce in size, making it easier for iPhone users to read your ad. He suggests using markup languages that are designed for use with mobile phones, such as XHTML, WML, and CHTML, as these are easier to load and find.

Avoid ‘Flash-y’ ads: “The iPhone is one very capable animal, but you don’t want to risk having mobile phone users lose their interest in your ads,” says Chai. “Flash powered ads and videos are still difficult to run using cell phones because most providers operate on a much slower speed than broadband.” Thus, he says, Flash movies might be difficult to download. However, he adds, since the iPhone supports video, you can probably get around this problem by using simple animations and short video clips that don’t eat up a lot of memory.

Keep your iPhone landing page clean: “A clean and simple mobile landing page is easier to look at and navigate,” Chai explains. “Even a fancy gadget like the iPhone still offers limited visuals with its small-sized screen. A full web page, for example, will take about three to four iPhone screens to cover; maximize your web page folds and keep content short but concise.”

Maximize the iPhone’s mail features with your Internet marketing campaign: “The iPhone is capable of displaying graphics and photos along with text, which means you can send e-mails to your potential customers using your tried and tested content,” says Chai. “Keep the e-mails compact but complete, and include your contact information. The iPhone lets users dial your contact number from your ad, so anyone interested in taking to you can do so immediately.”

Source: Press Submission

• Keep track of competitors and new product concepts
• Identify white space in specific therapy areas
• Guide research and drug development priorities
• Assess likely licensees and partners
• Understand the IP landscape for specific indications
• Gain critical market intelligence to guide allocation of resources and investments

Therapy Area Pipeline Reports provide comprehensive detail on the full pipeline status for the specific therapeutic indications you’re most interested in. Each report provides specific, up-to-date information on deals and alliances, research activity, licensing, marketing, competition, and the latest news and developments for each specified drug therapy. For details and to view a list of the reports offered by therapy area, CLICK HERE.

Since SEO is a vital element in blog marketing, “as you draft your blog posts make sure they are friendly to search engine crawlers,” says Mwanza. However, he adds, some people make the mistake of overdoing their keywords and links. “Your major keyword phrase should occupy 7% of your blog post content,” he advises. “In addition, include the keywords in the blog post heading — preferably at the beginning. Adding keywords all over the place can be considered as spamming — hence your blog may end up being omitted by search engines.”

Images are also important elements of blogging. “Include pictures that are relevant to your blog posts,” Mwanza recommends. “This makes your readers enjoy being at your site and better understand the content on your blog.” He also suggests that you add hyperlinks to your images, since this will also help with SEO.

Source: Content Caboodle

“The report that came out is really a major report — many think it is the most comprehensive and cogent produced in New York on the nexus of economic prosperity and the conversion of academic research into commercial products,” says Theodore M. Hagelin, JD, LLM, Crandall Melvin Professor of Law at Syracuse University College of Law and director of the New York State Science & Technology Law Center. “We are not doing that very well right now. Meantime, New York is going through a major budget crisis, so when a report like this comes out if there is not some follow-up it is just going to stay on the shelves.”

The goal of the event, he continues, was to highlight the report, and to keep it in front of the decision makers. “What I said at the outset of the event was that right now the budget decisions in Albany are a choice between spending cuts and tax increases,” he notes. “But I told the audience there is a third way — to grow the New York State economy, by converting academic research into products, services, and jobs.”

“Naturally, one of our goals was raising awareness in terms of getting the ideas in the task force out to a group of people who can act on those recommendations,” adds Daniel Doktori, the state’s director of higher education and executive director of the task force. “We wanted to present to a group of stakeholders who could really make a difference in changing statewide culture.” A detailed article on the group’s marketing strategy for the report appears in the July 2010 issue of Intellectual Property Marketing Advisor. For subscription information, CLICK HERE.

Welcome every new customer: “Every person who signs up for a trial gets a personal e-mail from me,” says May. And he often calls new customers to say hello and to tell them that he’s available if they have questions.

Listen to customers; iterate fast: “Virtually everything we’ve done in the past two years has in some way been driven by a customer,” says May. Case in point: customer Jonathan Kay, who does public relations for Grasshopper, a provider of virtual phone systems, signed up for BuzzStream last summer but wanted the software to include a task management function. He e-mailed the company and said so. Within 24 hours, May called him. “Not only did he care about my feedback, but he listened to me and implemented features based on our discussion,” says Kay. “When they exited beta and started charging money, there wasn’t a question that I was willing to pay them because they listened.”

Turn grumps into evangelists. “When we first launched the company, we got a mention in Bruce Clay’s SEO blog, and that was really influential,” recalls May. But the mention led to a conversation on Twitter, initiated by a woman who “was beating us up a little” because she was unhappy that BuzzStream was not on GetSatisfaction, a public customer service forum. ”We responded to her right away,” says May. ”The conversation migrated to e-mail and then we met her at a conference.” The BuzzStream team’s persistence led to a highly positive post by the woman, Rhea Drysdale, on her blog, Outspoken Media. “From that one post, we got 150 leads,” says May. “We turned a negative tweet into a nice chunk of leads.”

Engage with customers publicly.  By dealing with customer questions and complaints in open forums like GetSatisfaction and Twitter, BuzzStream sends the message that the company isn’t afraid of addressing criticism head on.

Source: Owners Only

• Features. Compare content, landing pages, resources, widgets, tools, social presence, and promotion, she advises. “This is the stuff that speaks to why a site is popular, and it’s the stuff that can affect in-links and traffic,” she notes.
• Sentiment. Use social monitoring tools (such as NetBase for larger organizations) to determine what people like about your competitors’ products and features, and what they like — or may not like — about yours, Lippay suggests.
• On-Page SEO. She recommends that you employ any of these on-page SEO comparison tools: SEOmoz Crawl Test, SearchCLU, Website Grader, Covario.
• In-links. Use in-link tools to compare the number of external links to the site and even the anchor text used in those links, she advises. In addition, examine who is link-sharing with whom.
• Traffic. Lippay suggests trying out these tools and services for monitoring site traffic and traffic trends: Compete, Alexa, AttentionMeter, comScore, Nielsen or Hitwise.

Once you’ve completed this exercise, says Lippay, “you should have a really good idea of what you’re up against, where your site stands competitively, and what you might need to consider in terms of providing a unique, remarkable offering to your target markets.”

Source: MarketingProfs

With a faculty featuring more than 20 of the world’s leading valuation experts, the Summit offers a unique opportunity to get detailed guidance, proven methods, and how-to strategies advice you need to place ensure you receive optimum value for your IP — and ultimately derive more revenues for your innovations. For those who can’t attend the event in person, a webcast is also available. A $200-off early registration discount applies until August 15. For complete information on the agenda, faculty, and continuing education credits, CLICK HERE.

1. Understand the true purpose of marketing. “Effective marketing is in large part about building trust and developing relationships,” says Bharwada.

2. Identify and build your brand. “Your brand is what your business is known for, how you engage with customers, and what people can depend on you to consistently deliver,” notes Bharwada. “Identify your brand, and leverage it to see customer loyalty and referrals increase. Don’t be shy about showcasing your uniqueness and strengths.”

3. Tap into what customers want. To appeal to a customer’s needs or desires, you must first understand their motivations, values, and priorities, says Bharwada. “Being tuned in to what customers want and being sensitive to their evolving needs will help you become more resourceful and innovative over time,” he explains.

4. Understand what customers actually are paying for. “We like to believe customers are paying for our expertise, yet most clients or customers cannot evaluate our expertise and so they simply assume we are experts by virtue of our brand credentials,” says Bharwada. “What customers can assess is whether they experience positive outcomes, if the relationship they have with you is meaningful, if they feel valued, and if they receive a high level of service.”

5. Integrity leads to trust, which leads to a relationship. Integrity involves fundamental behaviors such as keeping your word, being honest, providing a consistent level of service, and being reliable, says Bharwada. “Businesses that demonstrate a high degree of integrity are seen as trustworthy,” he says. “Building trust requires businesses to continually put the customer’s interests ahead of their own and display a genuine ‘other’ orientation.”

8. Never take loyalty for granted. “A successful external marketing campaign will encourage people to try you out, but only good outcomes and an authentic relationship with you will keep them coming back,” says Bharwada. “Never take loyalty for granted. Never underestimate the power and value of the one-to-one relationship customers have with you and your staff.”

9. Word-of-mouth marketing isn’t new. Third-party endorsement or customer referral has long been the foundation of marketing, notes Bharwada. “What is new is that the bar for what customers expect in the way of service is higher today. Being good isn’t good enough to get customers talking about you. Outstanding is the new good.”

10. Know and appreciate your ambassadors. In his bestselling book The Tipping Point, Malcolm Gladwell says people who refer fall into one of two categories: connectors or market mavens. Connectors are social. They have a gift for knowing people and naturally make connections among their network. Market mavens are people who have “the goods.” They have a desire to be of service and influence others. They are databanks of information, they know how to get the best deals and the best service, and they share information with enthusiasm. According to Gladwell, “word-of-mouth begins when someone along the chain tells a connector or a maven.” Learn to recognize those customers, cultivate them, and express your appreciation accordingly, Bharwada advises.

Source: MarketingProfs

This approach is the logical extension of the University of Michigan News Service’s journey into new media. “It started with just podcasts, about two years ago,” recalls Laura Lessnau, director of the News Service. “Then we started dabbling a bit in news videos, whole packages, and videos.” Why this approach? “We feel it’s important to do a lot more marketing directly to the consumer; you can’t rely on traditional media to get things out, so we began our own news service,” she explains, and having a video along a news release helps to draw attention. “People can see, and not just read; they can watch people talk to them or describe research that works — it’s more exciting,” Lessnau explains. “It’s the same with media — you’re trying to get their attention when you send a release out. If you want them to interview the researcher, it might be a bigger draw if they can see them. At the same time, it is another approach to our pitch people, who are articulate, smart, interesting, and compelling. You can’t always get that on paper; you have to see it.” A detailed article on linking videos and news releases appears in the June 2010 issue of Intellectual Property Marketing Advisor. For subscription information, CLICK HERE.

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Chai also advises testing out any e-mail copy with online tools that will provide a spam score, indicating how likely spam filters are to remove your message before it ever reaches your prospect’s in box. “You can use some online programs to [determine] how your e-mail will rank in Spam Assassin,” Chai advises. “All you have to do is copy the text and paste it on the box found on their site. They will run this for you and e-mail you a copy. The process only takes minutes to give the final result.” The report will let you know you precisely what words are costing you points. “More often than not, you should only be bothered if your score is more than 5 points,” says Chai. “If this is the case, you have the choice of erasing or disguising those words. You still have an option.”

Source: Ezine Articles

Also coming soon:

• SPECIAL 6-PART SERIES! Start-Up Boot Camp for University TTO Professionals and Inventors — Every Thursday through July 8th. This week’s focus: Pitching Techniques.
• Prevent Faculty Disputes from Turning Into a Declaration of War — Tuesday, July 13, 2010
• Protect Your Patents from Inequitable Conduct Charges — Thursday, July 22, 2010
• Bullet-Proof Your License Agreements: Prevent Post-License Disputes and Shed Dead-Weight Licensees – Thursday, July 29, 2010

“We are proud to sponsor the MIT Enterprise Forum of Cambridge,” says John Boruvka, vice president of intellectual property management at Iron Mountain Digital. “The Forum does important work to connect technology entrepreneurs with resources that make the commercialization of technology faster and easier.”

“Our mission at the MIT Enterprise Forum is to promote and strengthen the process of starting and growing innovative and technology-oriented companies,” says Elaine Reiter, sponsorship manager for the Enterprise Forum’s Cambridge chapter. “Sponsorship support from Iron Mountain will enable us to provide services and programs that educate, inform, and support the entrepreneurial community on intellectual property management issues.”

Source: CNN Money

• Add A Link - If it’s a company blog, or if it’s attached to another site, says Odden, add a link to the blog from the main navigation on the parent website.
• Create A Badge - “On the main website, add a badge to the homepage, or sidebar, that promotes the blog,” Odden advises. “Images are a good way to catch a visitor’s attention.”
• E-mail - Add a link to the blog in your e-mail signature.
• Newsletter - Announce the blog in the organization’s newsletter.
• Network - “Announce the blog to your Twitter followers, Facebook fans, LinkedIn connections and any other social networks that you are a part of,” Odden suggests.
• Press Release - If you feel that the blog is important enough to support a press release, put one out, says Odden.
• Submit - Submit the blog to blog & feed directories.
• Share - Share your blog with co-workers, friends and others in your network. “You never know when they might promote it for you,” Odden says.
• Link - “One way to get other bloggers to notice you is to link to them,” Odden comments. “Summarize someone else’s long blog post, expand upon someone’s shorter post, or just write your thoughts on a topic that someone else wrote about and link back to the original post.”
• Give Away - Run a promotion on the blog giving away a freebie, such as a white paper or lab tour. “Sometimes the value that can come out of giving something away can be more beneficial than all the items above,” Odden asserts.
• Guest Post - Network with other blogs in your industry and see if they’d allow you to guest post for them, Odden advises. “In return, you’d get a link back to your blog in your profile, or post, on their site,” he explains.
• Ask for Topic Ideas - Tap into the social networks within the industry you’re trying to reach and ask them what they’re interested in, says Odden. “Show interest in the interests of your audience and they’ll pay more attention and share your content,” he offers.

Source: Business Blog Consulting

• conduct a tour for foreign nationals;
• provide prospective partners with certain technical specifications for your products;
• conduct training of international collaborators;
• hold meetings with joint venture partners.

In short, even seemingly innocuous activities can run afoul of these strict rules, and expose your university to extreme consequences up to and including exclusion from federally funded research. Mastering Deemed Exports is a training video designed to help your staff, faculty, and students stay in compliance with these complex regulations. It provides plain-English explanations of the rules, along with dramatizations of how easy it is to unwittingly violate them.

This must-have training aid provides a quick and easy way to introduce new employees to these requirements and to reinforce the rules with existing personnel. The DVD comes with a free print bonus manual of supplemental material. In a special arrangement with the publisher, IP Marketing E-News readers receive a $100 discount off the regular price. For more information, CLICK HERE.

Be generous — share your expertise with others. “You can hold free events — or, if you have a lower budget, you can invite your customers and fans to free webinars,” Huff advises. “If you’re a one-person [operation], offer to answer people’s questions via your blog or a free teleclass.”

Send hand-written notes — “Invest in note cards and send hand-written notes to people,” says Huff. “Tell them you saw them mentioned in an article (you can even send the article), that you enjoyed meeting them at a networking function, or just say hi and that you were thinking of them. Your recipients will appreciate your gesture — and will remember you.”

Don’t talk about yourself (or your products) — When you meet with people face-to-face, ask them questions, Huff advises. “What books are they reading? What projects are they working on? How are the kids and the pets? Going on vacation? Taken any good trips lately? By asking lots of questions, you’ll build relationships with people and these people will in turn either hire you or refer you to others,” she says.

Introduce people to other people — “As soon as I sat down at my table at the B2B Marketing University event, [a friend] introduced me to others at the table — making me feel instantly welcome,” Huff recalls.

Be helpful — “Just this morning someone e-mailed me to ask if I knew one of the people I was following on Twitter,” Huff shares. “I did not know the person, and instead sent along the name of someone I did know who offered the same service. It took me a bit to find her contact info, but I was happy to do it.”

Answer your telephone — “I know the phone is a distraction and I know all the productivity gurus tell you not to answer your phone except at certain times; ignore this advice,” Huff admonishes. “I don’t know about you, but the majority of my communication is via e-mail, so answering the phone when it does ring isn’t a hardship. When you answer the phone, say ‘Good morning,’ or ‘Good afternoon,’ and then state your full name. Smile when you talk — and add some enthusiasm to your voice.”

Talk to customers — “When I went to pick up food for a party from the caterers a while ago, I had to wait while they finished assembling the platters,” Huff shares. “The owner of the establishment came out, looked at the order in progress, and then walked right on by me — even though I was the only person sitting there. A simple hello would have been nice. If you’re the CEO or owner of a company and see people sitting in your lobby, stop and introduce yourself.”

Source: Diana Huff’s B2B Marcom Writer Blog

• Objective: Identify the primary (and perhaps a secondary) goal of the event.
• Scope: Define the audience and what that audience needs to hear.
• Strategy: Identify what information will be presented, how will it be presented, and by whom.

Defining the specific goals of the event “will then determine the scope and what audience should be invited to the event,” he explains. Whether you plan to invite industry representatives, local and regional entrepreneurs, venture fund managers and “angel” inventors, or some combination, Fondacaro says that in all cases university administrators should be invited guests. “Regardless of the scope of the event, the TTO should always be looking for opportunities to market their function internally,” he explains.

Once the scope of the event is agreed to, he continues, then the focus switches to the strategy.

As with most information exchanged in this type of setting, it’s a ‘push-pull’ type of process,” Fondacaro says. “In other words, what information does the TTO deem necessary to be presented (the ‘push’) to achieve its objective, and what information does the audience want or more importantly need to hear (the ‘pull’) so that the TTO again achieves its objective?”

An important consideration when developing an event strategy, says Fondacaro, is the ‘attention-getter’ — something or somebody that will attract and maintain the attention of many, if not most, of your invited audience. A successful strategy when faculty are presenting is the “rock star” approach. Another attention-getter is the “case report” approach, highlighting a technology that came from your research laboratories, is the subject of an issued patent or patent family, was successfully licensed to a multi-national company, is currently on the market generating a significant royalty stream for the university, and is providing significant public benefit that easily can be quantified. Fondacaro’s guidance on hosting successful events appears in the June 2010 issue of Intellectual Property Marketing Advisor. For subscription information, CLICK HERE.

First, she advises, make sure your story is worthy of attention — and exemplary of your best work and current business practices. Did your clients generate cost savings? Did they upgrade their network and triple their productivity?  ”Organize your content in distinct sections and make every word count,” she says. Here’s one tried-and-true format:

• Customer description
• Challenge
• Selection criteria
• Solution
• Results

“Stay focused on your client’s success. The case study is a story about your client and the success achieved because the client chose to work with you,” says Lehman. “Avoid too much technical information and don’t focus too intently on minutiae. If you need to highlight technical details for some audiences, consider a call-out box.” Weave your organization into the case study as much as possible without destroying the balance of the story or taking the focus off your client, she continues. “Demonstrate your company’s willingness to go the extra mile to solve your client’s problems-and how you responded to your client’s needs. That effort will help distinguish you from your competitors.”

Source: MarketingProfs

Bullet-Proof Your License Agreements: Prevent Post-License Disputes and Shed Dead-Weight Licensees, scheduled for Thursday, July 29, will be jam-packed with best practices for drafting rock-solid agreements, maintaining top-notch compliance and audit programs, and dealing effectively with problematic licensees. For complete details, CLICK HERE.

International Patenting Strategies: Cost-Effectively Expand Your Market and Boost Your TTO’s Revenues, will be held Thursday, August 5, has been specifically designed to help simplify the foreign patent filing process while respecting your budget and expanding your global IP footprint. For full program and faculty details, CLICK HERE.

Also on the distance learning schedule:

• SPECIAL 6-PART SERIES! Start-Up Boot Camp for University TTO Professionals and Inventors — Every Thursday through July 8th. This week’s focus: Business Planning.
• Prevent Faculty Disputes from Turning Into a Declaration of War — Tuesday, July 13, 2010
• Protect Your Patents from Inequitable Conduct Charges — Thursday, July 22, 2010

Carlsberg, the Danish beer company, can build its brand in the U.K. through its association with the English national ‘football’ team without becoming an official partner, even though that may cause problems for Budweiser, which is a sponsor. Pepsi can leverage its association with a number of the stars of the World Cup, such as France’s Thierry Henry, Argentina’s Lionel Messi, and Ivory Coast’s Didier Drogba, potentially damaging Coca-Cola, which is a FIFA partner. And the likes of the little-known Bavaria beer company, which sent the orange-clad girls to Johannesburg, can see its exposure rocket in the space of a couple of days just because it got 30 young, blonde fans to attend a match at the Soccer City stadium wearing skimpy dresses that are in the country’s national color and a symbol of a beer advertising campaign back home.

“Because these global sports events are becoming far more popular and moved into the mainstream … more and more brands want to get affiliated and it’s blurred the line between official and ambush,” says David Pinnington, head of sports marketing at Omnicom Media Group, which works with official sponsors at major sporting events. It’s clear that FIFA will do what it takes to enforce its commercial rules, which allow only official partners to use the World Cup for advertising and promotion campaigns. FIFA said it was “appalled” that companies “use innocent people as a tool to conduct these unlawful activities, thereby exposing them to possible criminal charges.”

Source: USA Today

• Always put your video on your blog: Your blog, says Fitz-Gibbon, is or should be the hub of your social media advertising, “so placing your video there were people can find it and at the same time see more of what you are about is always going to be a good idea.”
• Make the first 15-20 seconds of your video very focused on the benefit people will receive as they watch: “If you don’t get a person interested in that time, they will simply leave your site,” Fitz-Gibbon says.
• Always be yourself: “If you are fun and outgoing,” says Fitz-Gibbon, “be fun and outgoing on the video. If you are more reserved and serious, then that is what you need to be.” Trying to be what you are not will lose a person’s trust faster than anything else you can do, he warns.
• Do an outline of what you want to say before you start talking — but do not simply read from a script: By doing an outline of key points, Fitz-Gibbon says, you will keep on track to get your message across but you will also allow yourself to be more natural and free flowing — and that is much more interesting for someone watching you.
• Make your title catchy: Preferably, use the keyword you are targeting just as you would in any other form of marketing — but most importantly, gain someone’s attention. “Basic copy writing skills are always going to be an important part of your skill set, and learning to produce a good headline is vital,” says Fitz-Gibbon.
• Look directly at the camera at all times, as if you are speaking to someone: “Glancing away will make you seem untrustworthy and unreliable,” he warns.
• Have a clear call to action at the end of your video: “It may simply be that you want [viewers] to comment or leave feedback,” says Fitz-Gibbon. “Whatever it is you want, ASK for it to happen.”
• When you edit your video, make sure you have a call to action/way to contact you as the last credit: Don’t forget this critical final add-on to ensure your video succeeds in driving prospects to you.
• Make sure your video is well-lit. “Simply putting a brighter bulb in will improve your efforts, or you can get a spotlight and direct it towards you,” Fitz-Gibbon advises. “It will light up your face and most certainly make your video higher quality.”
• Invest in a microphone; they are cheap and dramatically improve audio quality: “We use a $200 flip camera, but you can just as easily start with your webcam,” says Fitz-Gibbon. “Just make sure you have a nice professional background and light yourself well.”
• Promote your video effectively. Start with YouTube, but also consider other sites. “If you really want to push things along, use Traffic Geyser, which is a paid program but which will blast your video to 40-plus sites, or tube mogul, which is free but only has about 12 to 15 sites,” says Fitz-Gibbon. “Either way, get yourself out there.”

Source: BetterNetworker.com

• IP Marketing Strategies and Tactics
• Legal Issues and Strategies
• Portfolio Management Strategies
• Early Stage Funding Strategies
• Contracting and Negotiation Strategies
• Faculty Outreach and Education
• Performance Improvement, Efficiency, and Staffing Strategies

For complete information, including tables of contents for each report, CLICK HERE >>

Be your own PR manager. At start-ups, says Inc., founders often wear many hats, including that of a PR manager. The good news, they say, is that reporters and bloggers are more likely to listen to a pitch from a company founder than a PR rep.

Get creative on Twitter. Gaia Essentials, a small boutique in Moss Beach, California, is one of several small businesses in the Bay Area that participated in a game in which Twitter users are asked trivia questions about local companies for the chance to win prizes. Every morning for a month, Peninsula Shops, a web-based community portal, tweeted a trivia question about a company. In the case of Gaia, visitors flocked to the store’s website, and many stuck around to do some shopping.

Do your own market research. “Keeping track of who your competitors are, what people are saying about them, and what they are saying themselves can help you differentiate your business and stay ahead of trends that could impact your business,” says Michele Levy, an independent brand strategy consultant. You can do the research yourself, says Inc., by knowing the products or services your competitors sell.

Get obsessive about telling everyone what makes you stand out. Kelly Cutrone, star of Bravo’s ‘Kell on Earth’ and founder of People’s Revolution, says for building brand awareness nothing’s better than social media. “Get 65,000 Facebook fans,” she says. “Make a one-minute short film and pop it up on Facebook and just talk to 65,000 people. Get it on the Internet, then the Wall Street Journal and 700 bloggers pick it up and cut and paste it, you have a global message for very little money.”

Go mobile. “There are a handful of new, low-cost ways to get your brand in front of the most valuable consumer eyeballs — and it’s in a place people are likely to trust: on their cell phone,” says Inc. Advertising on mobile phone banners is relatively inexpensive — though rates range widely.  Third Screen Media and AdMob, the two main mobile-ad networks, charge CPMs of $15 to $25 for banner ads.

Make the most of e-mail campaigns. Whether you want to trumpet a new product, spread the word about a technology, or simply say “Hey, you are important to us,” e-mail marketing is a great way to interact with customers and prospects, says Inc.

Source: Inc.

And don’t miss these upcoming distance learning programs:

• SPECIAL 6-PART SERIES! Start-Up Boot Camp for University TTO Professionals and Inventors — Every Thursday through July 8th. This week’s focus: Business Planning.
• Prevent Faculty Disputes from Turning Into a Declaration of War — Tuesday, July 13, 2010
• Protect Your Patents from Inequitable Conduct Charges — Thursday, July 22, 2010

Company CEO David Schwartz states, “We are honored to be bestowed with the Certified Licensing Professionals CE approval. This distinction is a tribute to our distance learning products’ outstanding quality, cost-effectiveness and convenience. Historically, our programs have been well-attended by licensing professionals, and this new certification approval adds even more benefit to the programs — not only for certified licensing professionals, but to everyone guiding the transfer of IP from the lab to marketplace.” If you are a licensing professional but have not yet become certified, click here for details on how to pursue your CLP certification.

• People who can manage relationships with customers and partners: If you’re going to open up your organization to ideas from the outside, says the blog, your people must have “the soft skills of emotional intelligence” to deal effectively with the idiosyncrasies of executives from other corporate cultures.
• A willingness to accept that all of the smart people do not work for you: “Your organization’s culture must not only accept this idea intellectually, but also have a willingness to seek out these outside ideas,” the blog advises.
• An understanding that failures are opportunities to learn: This includes a willingness to reward even failing efforts as a way of learning.
• A willingness to help employees to build the knowledge and understanding of how an idea or technology becomes a profitable business: “The people who develop new ideas and technologies tend to be scientists or technologists, with little idea about the dynamics of modern business,” the blog observes. “In order to support and extend your company’s open innovation efforts, they need to have at least a basic understanding of the dynamics of business growth, because it’s likely they will be on the front lines as relationships are extended across company lines in the early stages of open innovation partnerships.”
• Dismiss the ‘Not Invented Here’ syndrome: This requires a major sea change in thinking. Corporate attorneys, for example, see open innovation as a threat. “Your CEO can’t just talk open innovation; he or she must have the ‘cojones’ to back up that commitment when internal turf wars break out over thorny issues like IP,” says the blog.
• Willingness to be a risk taker rather than being risk averse. “Common sense should be used to balance the risk level,” says the blog.
• Accepting that open innovation does raise intellectual property issues. “This is a new area for many companies; therefore, expect that it will take time to work through these issues and gain alignment on how to handle them,” says Tech4buziness.
• Understanding that open innovation requires open communication. If you don’t proactively communicate with your employees, says the blog, they will fill in the gaps with their own assumptions — which are more than likely inaccurate.
• Not needing to always be first. “Building a better business model is better than getting to market first,” the blog concludes.

Source: Tech4Buziness

“We came up with the idea last fall,” she says. “We had typically put out a short program to go with the symposium, but our philosophy is focused on what we can repurpose. You do not want to waste money on a publication people will look at for one day and then throw it out — even if it is eight pages long.” To help offset the costs of the new publications Spiro cut costs in other areas. “We decided to reduce the number of newsletters we put out,” she notes. INBT had been putting out 8- to 12-page newsletters every other month; Spiro reduced that to three a year and cut the length down to four or eight pages. Those cuts made budget room for the magazine at the symposium, where it would reach a large number of  attendees. “It’s our showcase event of the year,” she explains, “So why not have a publication go with it so it will not only serve as a program, but as a marketing and development piece all year?” A detailed article on the re-purposing effort and institutes marketing strategies appears in the June 2010 issue of Intellectual Property Marketing Advisor. For subscription information, CLICK HERE.

At the event, William Destler, president of the Rochester Institute of Technology (RIT), and Robert Palazzo, provost at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute (RPI), will discuss steps their institutions are taking to forge productive relationships with industry. Examples include flexible intellectual property operating procedures and best practices to promote faculty, student and staff entrepreneurship.

Source: Inside SU

“By placing its patents in the GlaxoSmithKline pool, MIT agrees to allow other researchers to use its intellectual property to help fight neglected tropical diseases,” wrote Sarah E. Sorscher, a third-year Harvard JD/MPH student and a member of Harvard Universities Allied for Essential Medicines, in the Harvard Crimson. “But use is limited: According to GlaxoSmithKline, the intellectual property must relate directly to NTDs, and products that are developed from the pool will ‘go solely to the least developed countries.’ This small group of 50 least developed countries will exclude low- and middle-income nations like India, China, and Brazil, where a majority of the world’s poor live and most of the developing world’s affordable generic medicines are produced.”

Sorscher added: “While patent pooling may be a step toward opening up access to knowledge for researchers who wish to help people in developing countries . . . neglected tropical diseases are not the only diseases that kill people in developing countries: Heart disease, HIV/AIDS, and stroke are among the leading causes of death among people in poor countries. These diseases are not ‘neglected,’ because they affect the rich and poor alike, and new technologies are being developed to treat them. Yet it is the poor who disproportionately die from these diseases, due in part to lack of access to appropriate care.”

Sorscher then drove the knife home by reminding readers that Harvard, Yale, and Boston University had come together to support a joint statement announcing a broad-based commitment to “promote availability of health technologies in developing countries for essential medical care,” and that “MIT was invited to sign on to the statement but declined to do so, leading students to question whether the institution has lived up to its mission to ‘bring [its] knowledge to bear on the world’s greatest challenges.’ In this context, MIT’s patent-pooling announcement appears to be an unsuccessful attempt to catch up with Harvard and other Boston-area academic-research centers in the race to deliver essential medicines to patients in developing countries.”

Source: The Harvard Crimson

UChicago Tech, The University of Chicago’s Office of Technology and Intellectual Property, teamed up with Argonne National Laboratory, Children’s Memorial Research Center, Loyola University, Northwestern University, and the University of Illinois at Chicago to premiere the Chicago Innovation Pipeline, a tool that enables industry representatives to view more than 120 licensable technologies in a single database of IP from all six schools and shop for technologies of interest.

“The genesis of the concept was our own internal work,” explains Alan Thomas, director in the Office of Technology and Intellectual Property at The University of Chicago. “We hired Nina Paciotti, our associate director of commercial development, to serve as the nexus in our office for interfacing with the corporate world. In the course of our discussions the theme arose continually that the way we tended to present our technological opportunities was not the way industry thought about them.” This, he continues, led to the development of a taxonomy “which became a useful common language between our office and the university and life science businesses — primarily pharma, medical devices, and med tech.”

In this taxonomy, he explains, the technologies are first broken down by indication area using the same definitions that industry uses internally. Then, they are all broken down by stage of development. The nomenclature, says Thomas, was obtained “from continual discussions with visiting tech scouts and university liaison people. The taxonomy, he adds, also has several different shadings to indicate if the technology is validated or not, in in vivo or in vitro trials, and so on.

The database started off as a PowerPoint slide presentation and evolved into a hyperlinked website format, where you can search on any indication or stage of development, and then “expand” or “collapse” various sub-pipelines. “The feedback we got when we showed it to pharma and biotech colleagues was that this was great, and if we were able to put something up at BIO it would be really useful, and it would  attract people to the booth,” says Thomas.

As BIO approached, UChicago Tech was also involved in discussions with fellow universities in the region, and the question arose as to what they could do collectively at the event. “It did not take much creativity to think now that we had the taxonomy for the pipeline, with very little extra effort the other universities could classify their technology pipelines along the same lines; send us their technological  opportunities with non-confidential descriptions; send links to faculty websites; and put it in a master pipeline,” recalls Thomas. “The bigger the pipeline was, the more interest there would be, and the more people who wanted to look at it.” A detailed article on how these institutions collaborated appears in the June 2010 issue of Intellectual Property Marketing Advisor. For subscription information, CLICK HERE.

SEO: “If you are looking to make optimizations within your website, it is critical to think about how much control you want to have over your content,” says Lillian. ”An external agency responsible for your internal optimizations will look to alter your website’s content to best present it to Google and other search engines. Sites that have very involved communities which expect a certain tone might not want to choose the agency option.”

SEM: “When you determine the search engine marketing needs of your website, then the size of your business and the size of your campaign should be your primary concerns,” Lillian advises.  “If your business is investing a lot of money in your paid search campaign, an expert agency will always get you the best bang for your buck and generate clicks quickly.”

Online Display Advertising: “To put it very bluntly, if your company is ready to make this fairly hefty investment it is essential to have some expertise on your side to make sure you are not throwing away your money,” says Lillian. ”Additionally, these campaigns can live or die by expert placement, so it is essential to utilize some strategy. [Having a] professional agency takes the large burden of planning off the site’s managers, and improves the numbers of leads generated by the campaign.”

Source: PromotionWorld

Recent application of the doctrine has been likened to “imposing the death penalty for relatively minor acts of misconduct.” Given the potential windfall for infringers and a complete lack of disincentives for raising the defense, inequitable conduct is now raised in nearly every case. Even the Federal Circuit Court of Appeals itself has noted the rampant use — or misuse — of the doctrine, stating recently that “the habit of charging inequitable conduct in almost every major patent case has become an absolute plague.” That’s why we’ve scheduled a can’t-miss distance learning event: Protect Your Patents from Inequitable Conduct Charges, on July 22, 2010 from 1:00-2:30pm EDT. During this 90-minute, interactive audioconference, a leading attorney expert and a veteran university IP manager will provide the guidance you need to ensure your patent rights are not co-opted. You’ll come away with real-world advice and specific safeguards needed to fend off inequitable conduct charges and be confident that your patents will withstand this all-too-common challenge. For complete program and faculty details, or to register, CLICK HERE.

PLUS, here are our other upcoming distance learning programs:

• SPECIAL 6-PART SERIES! Start-Up Boot Camp for University TTO Professionals and Inventors — Every Thursday through July 8th
• The Perfect Elevator Pitch: Sell Your IP in 3 Minutes or Less! — Tuesday, June 15
• Prevent Faculty Disputes from Turning Into a Declaration of War — Tuesday, July 13, 2010

Robert Klingensmith, President and CIO of eXubrio Group, first developed the new service for the University of Rochester. Virginia Tech is eXubrio Group’s second SeekIP Online customer.

Source: Askfamilys.com

“The launch of WIPO GOLD is a significant step towards fulfilling one of the organization’s strategic goals — that of serving as a world reference source for IP information and analysis,” says Director General Francis Gurry. ”The WIPO GOLD portal is a rich, dynamic and evolving information tool that will continue to be expanded and improved over time.”

WIPO says it is committed to narrowing the global knowledge gap by facilitating the free flow of IP information globally, and by improving access to and use of IP information. For example, it notes, much of the technological information found in patent documents is not published elsewhere; patent documents, therefore, represent an extremely valuable resource. WIPO claims that powerful databases, such as its PATENTSCOPE search service, make it possible to conduct, free-of-charge, high-quality searches of data relating to over 1.7 million international patent applications filed under the PCT, and patent data collections of a growing number of countries.

Source: WIPO

Market2Lead’s technology will be rolled into Oracle’s CRM (customer relationship management) software, the company said in a brief statement posted to its website. The news brought a quick reaction from Joseph Payne, CEO of Market2Lead competitor Eloqua. “The potential market for lead management systems is less than 10% penetrated,” he wrote in a blog post. “That’s all about to change. When a bellwether like Oracle makes a move, everyone takes notice.”

That theory has some legs, according to 451 Group analyst China Martens. While there are many players in the marketing automation arena, showing there’s a viable audience for the software, such vendors “still have to do a lot of evangelism” about its value to customers, she says.

And the wealth of companies in the market causes confusion for potential buyers customers, she adds. “Who do you choose and who’s going to be around?”

Rival CRM vendor Salesforce.com may buy a company similar to Market2Lead now that Oracle has made its move, but such a move could alienate its marketing automation partners, Martens adds.

Source: Computerworld

“It really depends on what audience you’re building,” adds Morgan E. Estabrook, MMC, outreach and communications manager for the UVA Patient Foundation, and, like Zanewicz, administrator for her TTO’s Facebook page. “We primarily use it as a public relations tool within the UVA community. We do not expect to get a new license directly because we posted a link to available technology, but we hope to leverage members of our internal audience who are comfortable being in communication with us in this way, and to share items they might not have known about otherwise.”

“Most TTOs have their available technologies on their website, and already generate that information and keep it up to date,” Estabrook notes. “By doing this [broader] campaign we’re able to re-purpose that stuff, expose our audience to a variety of our technologies and get them interested in what’s going on at our university and drive traffic to our site.” The bottom line, she says, is that she uses Facebook (and other social media as well) “to give our inventors more credit; as a PR tool; and for rapport building.”

While Facebook is great for internal marketing, Zanewicz agrees, “external marketing is huge.” Still, he says, “just community education is fantastic — especially for us. We are both publicly funded research universities, and have an obligation to be as transparent as possible with the public. This is a vehicle that allows us to mass market the technologies that arise from our research; our events, which are often free and open to public; and general information about the tech transfer process and what it is.” A detailed article on using Facebook for both internal and external TTO marketing appears in the June 2010 issue of Intellectual Property Marketing Advisor. For subscription information, CLICK HERE.

Hone your message. “You need to know exactly what you are trying to communicate to your audience before you start your presentation,” says Sherman. “And while you’re at it, keep your main takeaways — those memorable points — to a handful or less. Don’t throw in the kitchen sink for good measure.”

Polish your delivery. “Not everyone is a great off-the-cuff speaker, and when you have limited time, you want to make sure you can deliver your message clearly, succinctly, and smoothly,” Sherman advises. “Don’t over-rehearse to the point of sounding mechanical — and please don’t read your slides.”

Clean up your slides. How cluttered are your slides? How many words are there to read? “Having to read your wordy slides will distract me from listening to what you are saying,” Sherman notes. “Images do speak much louder than words and better accompany a disembodied voice than a lot of words on a screen.”

Think beginning, middle, and end. “A webinar, lecture, seminar, class… they are all part of the storytelling discipline,” explains Michael Anschel of Otogawa-Anschel Design-Build. “A great storyteller understands this and engages the audience whenever possible, creates a rhythm, and knows how to raise the engagement and excitement over the course of the story.”

Understand pacing. “Many people don’t harness [the] live energy [of webinars],” says Laura Roeder, a social media marketing expert. ”Although it’s a bit harder to gauge the room online, it can be done by noticing the questions that come in and when people are dropping off from the webinar.” Roeder actually monitors when people are leaving the webinar, says Sherman. If she notes the start of an exodus, she raises the energy or switches gears.

Be willing to be flexible. “Be prepared to go off-script and off-presentation,” says Leah Jones, founder of Natiiv Arts & Media, who is also good at switching gears midstream. ”While I make the presentations available before the webinar and provide a recording after, I think it is my ability and willingness to go off-script during the ongoing Q&A that makes the webinars really work,” she says. Jones says that during a recent Twitter lesson, participants let her know that her presentation was too basic. She moved her presentation from slides to the web and answered “bigger picture” questions.

Give action items. “We are all sick of theory,” says Keith Burtis, director of client strategy at New Marketing Labs, LLC. “If you can give people action items and homework, they will be more excited than having you preach theory. Life is experiential. Impact is felt when the words you say become something that changes someone’s life or business.”

Source: Web Worker Daily

ALSO COMING SOON:

• Starting this Thursday, June 3rd: SPECIAL 6-PART SERIES: Start-Up Boot Camp for University TTO Professionals and Inventors >>
• Tuesday, June 8th: TTOs: Use Social Media Effectively to Market Your Innovations >>
• Tuesday, July 13: Prevent Faculty Disputes from Turning Into a Declaration of War >>

The first and most obvious disadvantage, he notes, is the cost. “Second of all, I’ve tried just about every service out there related to this and there is currently just one which delivers fans which usually are not phony and can be targeted to both region as well as interest group, or field,” he says. “You will have to select very carefully when determining whom to purchase from.”

However, he continues, there are far more possible benefits than there are disadvantages. “To start with, you are going to obtain a good deal of ‘likes’ promptly . . . in the end giving far more page views, income, and word-of-mouth reputation,” he says.  ”Next … even though there is usually some outlay, contrary to some other varieties of promotion such as [pay per click], the likes (or supporters) you will acquire will always be on your own page for good. Not even just that, but you will definitely possess primary contact with your completely new potential customers; this means you may market to them frequently and repeatedly.”

Source: Mike’s Blog Marketing Tips

Content of an export marketing plan. “An effective export marketing plan details the action in a clear and concise manner,” notes Concentrate. “It will cover:

• The particular characteristics of the market being targeted.
• An analysis of the competition in the market.
• A strategy for promotion that fits the target market, including specific marketing material.
• An account of any modifications needed so that the product or services are acceptable in the market.
• An outline of responsibilities, implementation and evaluation.

Developing an Export Marketing Plan. “An export marketing plan will contain considerable detail that reflects sound research,” Concentrate notes. Those details will include:

• An introduction that backgrounds the market situation and purpose of the plan.
• A critique of the product or service. “What are the unique selling points that will make it succeed in the export market?” the company poses.
• A market analysis. “This should cover aspects of the wider political and socio-economic issues in the target country as well as the specific customer profile,” advises Concentrate.
• An analysis of the competition operating in the target market, and how the product/service will compete.
• The goals for the market — market share, turnover and profit, including a realistic timeframe.
• A marketing strategy outline. This, Concentrate adds, includes entering the market, working with partners, and a process for promoting the product or service.
• An action plan: Who will do what and by when?
• The evaluation — judging the success of the marketing plan in a timely manner.

Source: Suite101.com

Technology transfer, particularly of new biotechnologies that offer novel means to address unmet medical needs, offers a way to cost effectively address these challenges. And for technology developers, the dynamics of the drug development market present an opportunity to monetize their inventions. A new executive market research report from Business Insights, Building Biotech Technology Transfer Opportunities, brings these forces into sharp focus using detailed case studies, proprietary market data, and expert strategic guidance. For details on this just-published report, including a full table of contents and sample pages, CLICK HERE.

The university is anxious to protect its rights to Einstein’s image. Forbes magazine ranked Einstein in 2008 as the fourth-highest-earning deceased celebrity, pulling in $18 million annually. “The tattooed, shirtless image of Dr. Einstein with his underpants on display is not consummate with and causes injury to the university’s carefully guarded rights in the image and likeness of the famous scientist, political activist and humanitarian,” according to the school’s suit.

Ryndee Carney, a GM spokeswoman, says the automaker obtained the image of Einstein from a firm that assured the company it had the rights to use it. “We did what responsible advertisers do. We used a well-known, reputable firm to license the image,” says Carney.” That comes with a guarantee that they have the appropriate usage rights.” Einstein, who died in 1955, willed his likeness and IP rights to the university.

Source: Chicago Tribune

Through a secure web portal, university researchers will be able to survey extensive Pfizer data on more than 500 chemical compounds. Some of the compounds are drugs on the market; others are relatively new or part of Pfizer’s clinical trials on humans; and some were previously tested by Pfizer, but research was discontinued for various reasons. “This is novel. There are compounds in this collection that have not previously been disclosed to others,” says Don Frail, chief scientific officer of Pfizer’s Indications Discovery unit, a research team that soon will be based at the Center of Research Technology & Entrepreneurial Expertise (CORETEX), a biotech complex next to the Washington University School of Medicine. Pfizer, in turn, will be able to capitalize on the medical school’s expertise in genetics and the breadth of its research into various diseases, says Dr. Jeffrey Gordon, director of Washington University’s Center for Genome Sciences.

Officials from Pfizer and the medical school say the partnership will continue to push the evolution of “personalized medicine,” which focuses on how medicines can be tailored for certain individuals, depending on their genetic makeup. “There’s some pioneering going on here,” says Dennis Lower, chief executive officer of CORETEX. “This is an important model of drug discovery that reduces the risk and reduces the cost for someone like Pfizer.” By sharing Pfizer’s data on existing compounds, Lower says, researchers will not have to redo arduous pre-clinical studies — accelerating the development of new uses for existing drugs.

Pfizer’s compounds will be “a treasure trove” for Washington University researchers and the seed for new discoveries, says Eric Moyerman, a former senior vice president for product development at Bridgeton-based KV Pharmaceutical Co. “It’s really quite innovative and somewhat courageous (for Pfizer) to be willing to share its work with an educational institution,” Moyerman says. “In a pharmaceutical company, newly discovered compounds are the family jewels — the most heavily protected intellectual property in the entire company.”

Source: STLtoday.com

PLUS: Check out these additional upcoming distance learning programs:

• Every Thursday beginning June 3: SPECIAL 6-PART SERIES: Start-Up Boot Camp for University TTO Professionals and Inventors >>
• Tuesday, June 15: The Perfect Elevator Pitch: Sell Your IP in 3 Minutes or Less! >>
• Tuesday, July 13: Prevent Faculty Disputes from Turning Into a Declaration of War >>

BP, he says, should take a page from Tylenol’s now classic response to Tylenol poisonings some 20 years ago. “In Tylenol’s case, even though they knew that the poisoning could have happened to almost any packaged goods company, they didn’t dwell on this fact (i.e., no defensiveness, no the gulf’s a “very big ocean”), notes Tantillo. “Instead, they decided that among other superb marketing outreach tactics to restore confidence in their products by consumers, they would make the world safer for everyone by pioneering tamper-resistant packaging.”

In short, he says, they took the high road. “The best marketing always does,” Tantillo asserts.
He lists three key strategies BP should adopt to stem the tide of bad press and turn its worsening PR crisis around:

1. Immediately announce that BP will be “adopting” the Gulf of Mexico and going to make things cleaner than before. “In other words, show that the company is making a long-term effect to shore up ecosystems and the fishing industry,” Tantillo suggests.
2. “Name whatever ingenious device you come up with to stop the spill something like ‘The BP Enviro-safe Solution;’ then make this proprietary technology available to all oil companies,” Tantillo recommends. “Also, announce that the company will be making available The BP Spill Response Handbook, which will be compiled from the findings of an expert panel that months from now will be able to provide valuable, environmentally protective lessons from this event.”
3. Announce plans to create a second expert program to evaluate the accident causes thoroughly. This and the findings from step #2 might result in the development of other devices like universal fail safes (named after BP), methods, and protocols. “Again, BP will be sharing this intellectual property, even possibly giving the devices away or selling at cost, to the rest of the industry (mining, drilling and other resource companies),” says Tantillo.

Source: Fox News

“From a marketing perspective, working with an outside group with a focus on entrepreneurship also lent credibility to the whole topic on campus,” adds Joy Fisher, director of marketing & business development for the UT Research Foundation, which handles tech transfer for the university. For all these reasons UT decided to partner with the National Collegiate Inventors and Innovators Alliance (NCIIA), an alliance of faculty and students based in Hadley, MA, that supports technology innovation and entrepreneurship in universities and colleges.

Fisher says that NCIIA provided a number of pre-packaged marketing materials “That allowed us to market more effectively and with less effort than if we had done it from scratch,” she says. For example, UT was able to select from a group of fliers and posters. “They were high attention getters, with high impact graphics we could customize for what we needed to do,” Fisher says. “They printed and sent them, and all we had to do was post them.” In addition, NCIIA created a website that allowed UT to register and track attendees “without us having to create that wheel.” It also provided “pre-canned” e-mail messages. “Again, we customized them to what we needed but it still saved time,” says Fisher. What’s more, UT was able to create an additional set of e-mails which NCIIA allowed them to send to its list of prospective attendees. “We know that several people attended because they were on NCIIA’s contact list — especially people from out of state,” says Magid. A detailed article on the UTRF’s outsourcing approach appears in the May 2010 issue of Intellectual Property Marketing Advisor. For subscription information, CLICK HERE.

1. Immediately discard all resumes for any “gurus,” “evangelists,” and especially “ninjas.” “Of course there are people who do have certifiable expertise in the constantly evolving world of social media, but it’s more likely that they’re out there demonstrating, not advertising their savvy.” says Eddy. “Qualified candidates are participating on an authentic level rather than racking up thousands of followers.”

2. Follow the path of their digital footprint. Is your candidate’s digital footprint a well-worn path, or is it a tentative toe in the water? “While most organizations would benefit from the infusion of youthful energy that a plugged-in member of Generation Y could bring to the table, it’s important to assess whether or not your prospective social media manager has real influence and reach in his or her networks,” notes Eddy. “Has the candidate been blogging on some topic of interest for a steady period of time? Is it apparent that the candidate has actively contributed or participated in meaningful conversations in social forums? Have they presented a consistent (and transparent) persona across all of their social networks?”

3. How’s their ‘social life?’ “Your candidate’s personality and communication style should translate seamlessly into the authentic and personal (read: not marketing-speak) interactions they’ll be facilitating online,” says Eddy. “Being a good listener will mean that your candidate will be an expert at anticipating questions and needs, they’ll be adept connectors and introduction-makers, and they’ll be tuned into finding the right opportunities to either step in and participate or step back and let the good times roll.”

4. Dollars and sense. “Your candidate should be an adept observer and interpreter, perceiving the patterns that will turn the data insights into market intelligence,” Eddy advises. “Your social media manager must be able to develop nimble and actionable responses to the trends within your brand’s social network – tweaking messaging, shifting platform participation, and especially reaching out to the brand’s key influencers, ambassadors, and promoters to enlist their collaboration and to reward their loyalty.”

5. Look above and beyond marketing experience. “Really, what you’re looking for is a modern Renaissance person who is comfortable with the shape-shifting, hybridized role of brand strategist, project manager, consumer analyst, and community organizer,” says Eddy. “While the go-to resume would likely point to marketing experience, you might want to consider candidates whose backgrounds demonstrate a set of skills rather than specific functions. In addition to outstanding communication and analytical skills, looks for individuals whose experience indicates a strong foundation in understanding and interpreting customer’s experiences, such as a strategist or planner, or even an experience designer.”

Source: iMedia Connection

• Royalty Rates for Technology, 4th Edition
• Royalty Rates for Pharmaceuticals and Biotechnology, 6th Edition
• Royalty Rates for Technology: Medical Devices and Diagnostics Edition
• Royalty Rates for Technology: Computer and Communications Edition
• Royalty Rates for Trademarks and Copyrights, 4th Edition

CLICK HERE for complete details >>