Sydney University PhD student Anthony Collins developed the application over the past couple of years for his thesis, in conjunction with PhD student Trent Apted and computer human-adapted interaction head Professor Judy Kay. The Focus application, which is being billed as a rival to Microsoft’s Surface, uses cameras to interpret gestures and movements made across a table to control an onscreen computer interface. The team assembled a surface computer for less than $5,000 using a projector, a laptop, a motion sensor called a mimeograph, and of course, a table.

The software allows groups to use a surface computer to access and share stored files and information; these can be moved across to other computing devices. Some observers see natural marketing applications for the software. “We can definitely see something like this in the boardroom of the future, where people need to call on documents to show them to others,” says Collins. “It’s very general; it could be magazine editors pulling up stories to figure out what they’re going to include in the magazines.”

Microsoft has begun selling its $20,000 Surface product in a high-profile marketing campaign, and bedazzled executives have bought even before deciding how to use it. In a different approach, the group in charge of commercializing this software will launch the device after it has developed proven applications for customers across industries. The Smart Services co-operative research centre owns the IP and is working with customers to develop applications for the technology, according to Smart Services CRC chief executive Warren Bradey. That process should be completed by the end of the year, he says.

Source: The Australian

To help you tap into these industry resources and funds, Technology Transfer Tactics’ Distance Learning Division has partnered with a TTO executive who has made it his mission to offset tight money constraints by forging corporate partnerships and utilizing industry funding to further the office’s aims and bolster its budget. Mike Rondelli, Director of Technology Transfer and Commercialization, has successfully led San Diego State University’s TTO to consistent high performance in the ratio of research dollars spent to licensing revenues earned. Find out how SDSU’s secrets of success by joining us on April 8th for Stretch Your TTO’s Budget: Tap Into Industry Resources and Partnerships, a 90-minute distance learning event that will offer first-hand advice on how to offset tight budget constraints by forging partnerships, utilizing industry resources, and more. CLICK HERE for full details or to register.

PLUS, coming March 30th: The Bilski Decision: Expert Strategies to Manage Its Impact on University IP

The costs associated with internal technology marketing departments can be prohibitive, notes Nicholas Webb, Lassen’s CEO. “The TMD provides a complete solution that includes technology triage, the development of technology offering memorandums, and a comprehensive marketing plan for an individual or suites of technologies,” says Webb. “This service provides all of the functions that an internal marketing department would perform at a small fraction of the cost.”

The fee-based program is structured for monthly payments, based on the goals and portfolio of a particular organization, with no long-term contract requirements. For more information or to secure a proposal, contact Webb directly at 530-244-6336, ext. 11 or at nick@nickwebb.com.

Source: www.lassenscientific.com

In the years prior to this new program, the pace of disclosures was far more modest, says John Dement, Technology Engagement Office/ORTA for NSWC Crane Division. “For fiscal year 2009 we had 48 disclosures; in 2008, we had 44; and in 2007-6 we had 16 and 13, respectively,” reports Dement. “This is a real big jump.” In addition, he notes, 56 patent applications were filed in 2009, 14 in 2008, and 6 in 2007.

But that hasn’t been the only benefit of these events, says Dement. “We’ve also been training our partners on who we are, what our mission is, and what our sharable resources are — IP, testing and manufacturing capability, and access to our engineers,” he notes. “It’s the notoriety we’ve gained through press releases, articles and reports — people see we’ve become innovative with our IP and the transfer of our federal lab results to businesses. I now have people beating down our doors to know what IP we have, and the number of CRADA’s and patent licensing applications have dramatically increased.”

Susan J. Ellspermann, PhD, Director of the USI‐CAR, explains the need for a new IP discovery process.  “Crane . . . has great engineers and problem solvers, but they can also do the kinds of things more traditional research labs cannot do — more applied science. However, they never thought about whether what they did was patentable; they were just focused on doing good work for DoD.” Over time, she continues, Crane has been transitioning into a true research organization with many more PhDs on staff, and much more front-end innovation than had been generated in the past. “They were almost sure there was IP sitting around, because they knew they were doing innovative things, but the engineers on their own would not have recognized it as any big deal, or taken the time to write up a disclosure even if they did,” says Ellspermann. “These events were a way to help ensure that Crane was uncovering the relevant IP on significant projects they had implemented.” A detailed article on the IP mining events appears in the March 2010 issue of Intellectual Property Marketing Advisor. For subscription information, CLICK HERE.

1. Nonexistent or Nonusable Data. “Odds are that you are not collecting marketing data, or you have lots of data that you are not using to make the right marketing decisions,” says Chittilappilly. “Most data collected is in aggregate form, which is not useful for finding insights. Moreover, it is often spread over different entities such as agencies, publishers, media planners, and business units, and it is fragmented across several Excel and PowerPoint files, Access databases, and relational systems.” An integrated data warehouse for all marketing data and results — which is part of any cross-channel attribution strategy — is crucial for being able to act on the data you have, he says.

2. Silos and Nonstandardized Key Performance Indicators (KPIs). Unfortunately, says Chittilappilly, most marketers are forced into the long-held practice of tracking marketing performance in silos — that is, each channel is measured using different metrics. “Online search has KPIs such as clicks, conversions, and cost per action, whereas television has KPIs such as impressions and gross rating points,” he notes. “Branding and direct response are measured in silos, too. Even smart marketers who employ best-of-breed agencies often track their agencies’ performance in silos.” There is no standard measurement practice that goes across channels, agencies, and marketing initiatives, but an integrated and holistic approach to measurement and optimization is critical for your marketing organization because it can serve as a surrogate for a standard set of yardsticks with which to measure program success against KPIs and other goals, says Chittilappilly.

3. Lack of Synergy and Lack of Timing. “We all know that different marketing channels influence one another, yet many marketers struggle putting that anecdotal evidence to work,” says Chittilappilly. “Too often, the same advertiser will run several campaigns at once, with no tie among them to help boost overall success, or the advertiser will not align timing among those programs. That is unfortunate, because if one channel is good in giving a lift to another, another may be good at receiving the lift and producing conversions.”

4. Going With Your Gut. Admitting that your decisions are based on gut feelings is difficult, especially when you’re spending time and resources producing detailed reports that should be able to guide you objectively, notes Chittilappilly. But, he says, decision-making can often be subjective and based on gut feelings at the executive and execution levels. “That’s because the Excel reports and PowerPoint decks many of us regularly consume are at high levels, don’t offer insights, and are not segmented — and, therefore, are not usable,” he asserts. “An objective and fact-based decision-support system, such as those provided by some of the attribution solutions now available, should be helping your organization make the right decisions.”

5. Relying on tradition. Most marketers and agencies are comfortable with their traditional ways of decision-making, Chittilappilly observes. “Sometimes good ideas take time to get implemented,” he says. “Sometimes, though, tradition limits the speed of execution. At the end of the day, the marketer who has the better process and technology to make better decisions and who acts quickly wins over others.”

Source: MarketingProfs

• 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.

Build Awareness: Post the details about when and where the events are taking place a couple of days in advance.

Motivate: Provide an incentive on Twitter, Facebook, or other social media to prompt people to come to an event. “For example,” says Odell, “Washington, DC, basketball fans got an e-mail that promised two free tickets to a Wizards game if they brought a copy of the e-mail to the mobile tour site.”

Offer Takeaways: Hand outs, such as business cards with the branded Facebook and Twitter addresses, make nice reminders. “Include a call to action — for example, checking out photos from the events — to drive social interaction,” says Odell.

Document: “Take photos and videos and post them across social media outlets to hype upcoming and past events and to encourage people to come to the next event or to talk about what already happened. Update the content multiple times per week,” says Odell.

Start the Conversation: “Keep the chatter going; ask questions and encourage conversation,” says Odell. “Don’t just push out information; send out a tweet asking for the location of the best deli near the event site. Then go get a sandwich, post a photo and tweet about it.”

Be an Expert: Have a dedicated staff member — preferably on the road — to handle all social media to ensure consistency, focus and regular interaction with fans.

Be Consistent: Give all executions — from social media, to TV spots, to print ads, to the event vehicle — a consistent look and feel.

Source: PROMO

The initiative, called the Invest in America Alliance, was unveiled by Intel’s chief executive, Paul S. Otellini, in a speech at the Brookings Institution. “Unfortunately, long-term investments in education, research, digital technology. and human capital have been steadily declining in the U.S.,” Otellini said, according to a transcript of the speech. “So, too, has the commitment to policies that made us such an entrepreneurial powerhouse for more than a century.” Other countries, including China, India, Taiwan, Finland, Korea, and the Netherlands, have become “far more potent competitors in the next phase of the global economy,” he noted. As part of the alliance, the VC’s — including Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers, Venrock, and DCM — have committed to investing portions of their funds in start-ups founded in the United States. Intel Capital, the company’s venture capital arm, will invest $200 million.

The United States is quickly losing ground to China and India, says Robert Compton, a venture capitalist and entrepreneur who produced a documentary on education in the three countries.

Fewer than 10% of U.S. college graduates have engineering degrees, compared with more than one-third in India and China, and more foreign-born graduates of U.S. universities are returning to their home countries, he notes. “Early indicators are that we are not the center of innovation anymore,” Mr. Compton says. “It is shifting to the East.” Another indicator of the shift is patent filings, which increased 30% in China last year while declining 11% in the United States, according to the World Intellectual Property Organization.

The announcement from Otellini comes as both Intel and its VC arm could use a public relations boost themselves. The Federal Trade Commission has filed an antitrust complaint against Intel. Rajiv Goel, a former Managing Director at Intel who worked closely with Intel Capital, has admitted to leaking confidential corporate information in the Galleon insider-trading case.

Source: The New York Times

• Low cost and no-cost strategies for branding your TTO
• Going guerrilla: It’s the little things that count
• Best practices for web-based marketing:
  - Social media
  - E-mail strategies
  - Video clips and instructional videos
  - Online listings, and more
• How to engage faculty in your marketing efforts
• Internal and external PR efforts that work wonders
• Marketing collaborations with other universities
• Avoid these resource-draining no-cost efforts — they’re just not worth it!
• Leveraging campus resources such as MBA programs, entrepreneur-in-residence, etc. as partners in your marketing push
• Web analytics: They’re not just for gauging campaign results anymore. We’ll review a case study from the U of British Columbia that saved the TTO thousands of dollars and resources
• Platform marketing vs piecemeal strategy: which is best?
• How to engage web-savvy VCs and Angels

This how-to session also features an optional 30-minute add-on web forum for idea sharing. For complete details and to register, CLICK HERE.

The upcoming distance learning schedule also features:

• The Bilski Decision: Expert Strategies to Manage Its Impact on University IP — Tuesday, March 30, 2010
• Stretch Your TTO’s Budget: Tap Into Industry Resources and Partnerships — Thursday, April 8, 2010

1. Don’t forget the basics. “It might sound silly, but marketers often forget the most salient information when sending out a promotional e-mail, such as date, time, or program name,” Popick says. “Identify the time zone, for example, and include opt-out — and opt-in — links.” In addition, she advises, make sure there’s a link recipients can click on to preregister for the program.
2. Do keep content simple. Webinar invitations should include ‘who, what, and why’ right up front, says Popick. Provide a bio for anyone speaking at the event and bullet points that detail exactly what participants should expect to take away from the program. “Really hype the speaker and [his or her] legitimacy,” she says. “You want people to walk away from your message with a good idea of why they need to attend.”
3. Don’t be shy about reminders. If someone has signed up for your program, remind them a week before and then again the day before, Popick advises. “It won’t seem intrusive if you keep it basic, including a link to the program, the time and day reminder, and a quick synopsis of what the recipient should expect,” she says “The message can be changed up a bit, but the bullet points should probably stay the same.”
4. Do use e-mail as a follow-up vehicle. “Once someone takes the time to attend a webinar, it’s crucial that you reach them in some way immediately following the event,” says Popick. E-mails should include a link to the recorded webinar as well as a ‘Thank you.’ Prospects may also receive a special offer. “Segment your attendee list into attendees and registrants. Then segment each into prospects and customers,” Popick suggests. “Leads who didn’t attend should get a link and a special offer.”
5. Don’t overlook the power of testimonials. You probably use case studies and customer quotes in traditional e-mail marketing; they can work just as well in webinar promotions, according to Popick. “You can include links to previous webinars in your current invitation and call out the benefits of attending one of your events by letting a recent attendee explain what he or she got out of the experience,” she shares.
6. Do cull webinar transcripts and materials for future e-mail content. During a successful webinar you may receive more questions than you have time to answer. Those questions can be repurposed as e-newsletter content or blog fodder, says Popick. “You can include a sentence in the follow-up e-mail that says, ‘If you didn’t get your question answered, check out our blog,’” she suggests. “You can excerpt one or two, so registrants who didn’t attend have another reason to click through to the recorded webinar.”
7. Don’t oversell yourself. Webinars work best when they are used for thought leadership and education; you don’t want your entire program to be too self-promotional. “Don’t be afraid to tap speakers from outside your company,” Popick says. “You want your speaker to be viewed as a best practice guru within your industry.”

Source: B to B Magazine

Smith says the need to for universities to enhance corporate relations is steadily growing. “What’s been happening is that companies are relying more on universities than ever before to do the ‘R’ component of their R&D, so they’re more important to us than they’ve ever been,” she explains. “What they want from us is to talk about more strategic relationships, and expanded types of engagement that may include multiple companies and universities; they want connections at the highest strategic levels.” So, she explains, a corporation may not seek a research project with a finite beginning and end, but rather a relationship in which the two entities “do business together.”

“They want our help solving complex problems — not just solving a piece of work here and there — and we want to engage at those levels, too,” says Smith. “But with that type of relationship comes their expectations that we are working at the ‘speed of business’ and work the way they do.” In other words, “speaking the language of business” should involve much more than learning a few buzz words if a university is to be successful with their future marketing and relationship building efforts. “It involves understanding the motives of the other party — and they ours,” says Smith. “It’s responsiveness. Speed of business means returning a phone call the same day and responding to e-mails within 24 hours; that’s how business works.”

A detailed article on Smith’s activities at UA appears in the March 2010 issue of Intellectual Property Marketing Advisor. For subscription information, CLICK HERE.

“The challenge is that the central premise of all sales is that people buy from people they ‘like’ and people they ‘trust’ — always,” he stresses. “Like and trust can be maintained electronically, but it has been proven time and again that customers need some face-to-face contact to really get to like and trust.” The other reason face-to-face marketing has become ‘number one,’ says Backstrom, is the opportunity to see firsthand the offerings of various suppliers. “For example, if you are looking for services or products related to CRM, there is a show called the CRM Summit which is chock-full of every possible provider in that space,” he notes. “In just a few hours a buyer can get an up-to-the-minute overview and detailed information for the entire industry. From a seller’s perspective, if they are at the right event, they have the opportunity to efficiently expose their offering to a very high percentage of the prospects in that segment.”

So what does it take to make face-to-face marketing work? Backstrom offers the following tips:

1. The Plan. “Have a well-defined plan of what you want to do, what you want prospects to get from their experience, and how you will deliver,” he says. “A good plan underpins everything.
2. Pick the right opportunities. “The right show or event will make all the difference,” Backstrom asserts. “Start by asking your current customers what shows or events they go to, and why.”
3. Have a great presence. “The right booth or graphics help prospects understand who you are, what you do, and why they should care,” Backstrom says. “A great presence also includes having the right people work the event.”
4. Follow up and evaluate. “Manage and measure your results,” he advises. “A plan for fast follow-up on leads and inquiries is vital.”
5. Have a good partner. A good plan poorly executed is no plan at all, notes Backstrom. “Find a good partner that can help with all the thousand little details that face-to-face marketing presents,” he recommends.

Source: Skyline Trade Show Tips

• Fill-in-the-blank template options
• A PowerPoint® investor pitch template
• Expert advice from investors, lenders, and consultants compiled into comments throughout
• Professionally programmed business financial forecasting models
• MIDAS Business Plan Wizard – a sophisticated document management system that organizes your documents and leads you every step of the way.
• The comprehensive Handbook of Business Planning (pdf ebook)
• “65 Ways to Finance Your Business“
• Video/Seminar: The Thinking Behind Your Business Plan
• 60+ financing support documents & worksheets
• “What-if” scenario planning and best/worst case sensitivity analysis
• Automatic valuation, capitalization, and financing analyses using four valuation models and a weighted average of all four
• Bonus book “Handbook of Business Planning

For complete details on Biz Plan Builder or to order, CLICK HERE.

The squid-eyed Supreme Commander of the Rebel fleet has garnered some serious press as a candidate, thanks in no small part to an Internet campaign that went viral. There are mixed opinions as to whether this re-branding attempt will ultimately be successful; some reports say the administration would never support such a move, while others say the switch is close to becoming a reality. One possible concern — copyright infringement claims — may have been allayed when The Official Starwars.com.Blog posted the following: “Lucasfilm is flattered that our Star Wars fans at the University of Mississippi are considering electing Admiral Ackbar as their mascot. The last time we checked in with Admiral Ackbar he was leading the Rebel Alliance Fleet on a critical mission so it will be difficult for him to show up for the games!”

Source : io9.com

Intellectual Property Marketing Advisor,
Vol. 3, No. 2 (pp 13-24) February 2010

• UT uses outside firm to counsel its start-up inventors. One of the most effective strategies in selecting an outside consulting firm is to study what they’ve done for similar organizations, and the University of Tennessee Research Foundation only had to look a few miles down the road to Oak Ridge to confirm its decision to retain the Center for Entrepreneurial Growth to counsel its faculty members on start-up formation.
• Hopkins schools its faculty in marketing their inventions. An alliance of Johns Hopkins collaborators, supporters, and staff is seeking to give its faculty inventors a leg up in the marketplace with a training program on creating effective marketing pitches to attract potential investors.
• UC Merced touts inventions, inventors with new catalog. The Office of Technology Transfer at the University of California, Merced is seeking to reach a variety of internal and external audiences through a new publication called “Inventions of the Research Enterprise.”
• Competition includes student crash course in IP marketing. While the numerous student innovation competitions held around the world all have their distinct styles and structures, most involve the students arriving at the competition with their presentations already in hand. At the annual Biotechnology YES competition, however, the approach is quite different: The students spend several days learning about marketing from industry experts before they make their presentations.
• Blog helps consultant promote clients’ IP, market its expertise. While many TTOs are still getting their feet wet in the world of blogging, IP and technology management services firm Fuentek, LLC, has developed a sophisticated blog that’s enabling it to both market clients’ technologies and enhance its own reputation for IP marketing and management expertise.
• Puerto Rico embarks on two-fold strategy for marketing IP. One of Puerto Rico’s leading advocates for the promotion of its university research candidly admits that the island’s university system has had two significant weaknesses that have kept it from achieving the success that the quality of its research merits.

Doug Johnson, who heads the university’s Venture Center, says the Life Sciences Showcase, the first of three such events this year, will give investors and potential corporate partners a chance to review the university’s intellectual property and speak with start-up officials and inventors.

The showcase will also publicize the university’s commercialization programs to the broader community. “We have been too reactive,” says Johnson, a former venture capitalist and investment banker. “We need more time with people, with outsiders, for them to get to know who we are.”

Source: MedCity News

The company spent years developing the device, which uses low-frequency sound waves to help dislodge mucus in the lungs — a lifesaving function for individuals with respiratory illnesses such as chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). However, much of the company’s funding had been invested in clinical trials and application fees for a patent and FDA approval, leaving little for marketing and advertising. The call from Popular Science fixed all that, providing free exposure to 6 million readers worldwide at just the right time: Medical Acoustics received approvals on January 4 from the Food & Drug Administration to begin selling the product, and the firm began accepting orders February. 1.

“The business plan and our vision six months ago were very different,” says Nicolaas Smit, a biochemist and the firm’s VP of science and technology. “No one knew we would have this in front of 6 million people worldwide. You can’t ask for better exposure. It’s a wonderful problem to have.”

The FDA clearance followed a successful clinical trial at the University at Buffalo and the WNY VA Medical Center that showed the safety and effectiveness of the device in COPD patients with chronic bronchitis. The company expects the device to play a role in treatments for lung cancer, tuberculosis, chronic bronchitis, asthma and pneumonia. At $40, it is relatively inexpensive. It also is approved for reimbursement by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services in the U.S. The market outlook for the device is strong: More than 10 million individuals in the U.S. alone have COPD.

Source: Buffalo Business First

The publication was created to target a wide variety of audiences, according to Richard E. Miller, PhD, associate vice chancellor for research, who heads up the UC Merced tech transfer efforts. “We advertise our IP through iBridge (an online licensing portal) and directly, and notify companies we feel may be interested in a particular discovery or invention; we also put it on the web. But I thought we needed additional information we could take to meetings and conferences,” he explains. “We also wanted to indicate to our faculty that we appreciate their efforts. They are always interested in seeing publications that have their names in them, and we hope it will motivate them so more would report their inventions.” In addition, he says, the Chancellor wanted to use it for meetings with trustees and others who support the university. In fact, Miller adds, it was the Chancellor’s desire to have copies in-hand by August 2009 that established the catalogue’s publication deadline.

While it was Miller who determined the content of the publication, a team of individuals worked on putting it together. “The Office of the President of the University of California system is in Oakland, and they donated a wordsmith who could put together the information in a format would be appropriate,” he shares. “We also had somebody here on campus that had artistic capabilities, and we charged them with coming up with the design for the portfolio. And we had an intern from Korea with us for six months; he was a contributing editor — he reviewed the contents and made some very good comments. My assistant coordinated the entire effort and I reviewed it.” Every faculty member was sent a copy, as well as a note telling them where the publication could be found online in case it generated interest with one of their contacts. A detailed article on the UC Merced catalog appears in the February 2010 issue of Intellectual Property Marketing Advisor. For subscription information, CLICK HERE.

• Personal branding opens doors. Tell your ‘ownable’ story — authentically and genuinely. “This positions you and gives you a platform,” he explains. “If the words sound unnatural to you or you come across as a faceless company person, scrap the message and start all over again.”
• Everyone has a passion. Share yours online.
• Humanity always wins. “People will always associate with people who are doing things they like,” says Bhargava.
• Mood tracking creates opportunities. Bhargava suggests that you dig deeper to find out what people really think about your brand. “This will maximize the benefit you derive from your word of mouth marketing and enable you to enhance your brand,” he explains.
• Measurement needs reinvention. Pick your audience — the right audience. “It’s better to reach the right 1,000 individuals than to reach the wrong one million,” notes Bhargava.
• Accidental spokespeople own your brand. “You can’t choose who loves you, and you shouldn’t try,” Bhargava advises. “Try to bring these spokespeople together and get them talking to each other online. This will only amplify the positivity of your brand.”
• Media is circular. “You are both a consumer and creator,” says Bhargava.
• The tools are not important. Whether you use Twitter, Facebook, create a blog or a website, it’s your engagement in the medium that matters, says Bhargava. “Pay attention to what you communicate and, as a smart listener, to what’s being communicated,” he says. “The real-time stream of this medium provides you with ambient awareness.”

Source:
http://www.foxsmallbusinesscenter.com/strategy/2010/02/18/marketing-tips/

A few years ago, researchers at P&G made a breakthrough that could revolutionize how food is wrapped and stored. But there was one problem, says Chris Thoen, director of innovation and knowledge management at P&G. Despite a portfolio of more than 300 products worth nearly $80 billion, P&G didn’t have a strong presence on supermarket food-wrap shelves, and it would take millions of dollars of marketing, packaging, and other costs to change that. The good news was that one of the multi-national’s biggest rivals, The Clorox Company, did have that presence, thanks to Glad food wrap. So P&G approached Clorox with an offer to collaborate. Seven years later, Glad’s Forceflex — using P&G’s technology, which embeds a kind of cement in small dimples in the cling film to increase its stickiness — is a top-selling product and Glad is now a joint venture of the two companies, with P&G owning 20%.

“Glad had a great name in marketing and in manufacturing, and we brought a product technology in,” says Thoen, describing just one of several approaches to collaboration that have had a dramatic impact on how the company has become more innovative over the past decade.

P&G isn’t alone. As the conference at which Thoen made his remarks — “Borderless Innovation: Management Practices, Promises and Pitfalls” — highlighted, many of the world’s top multi-nationals have been leveraging the latest technological developments, their expanding global business networks, and even competitors’ expertise to change the way they harness new ideas.

But while these tools may make global collaboration easier than ever, there is plenty of work left to do to make “borderless innovation” deliver, as the seminar’s presenters noted. Indeed, the seminar’s keynote speaker, Michael Mandel of BusinessWeek magazine, said most companies — particularly in the U.S. — suffer from what he called an “innovation shortfall.” Part of the reason, he noted, is that it’s one thing to develop new products and quite another to get them to market and make them commercially viable. That certainly was the challenge faced by the companies behind many of the widely hailed breakthrough technologies of the 1990s, such as gene therapy and alternative energy.

Yet Mandel and other innovation experts also expressed optimism about the new wave of web-based collaborative innovation, which helps companies overcome shrinking R&D budgets and brings together like-minded and creative problem solvers from around the globe.

Source: Ethiopian Review

Also coming soon:

• TOMORROW, February 24: Performing Market Research Studies: Testing the Waters to De-Risk Your IP Investments
• Tuesday, March 9: Tech Transfer Marketing on a Shoestring: Guerilla Tactics in a Budget-Cut World

The one that really caught our attention was Vancouver-based yoga-apparel retailer Lulumon Athletics. They launched a line of sweatshirts and T-shirts called “Cool Sporting Event That Takes Place in British Columbia Between 2009 and 2011 Edition.” The company was publicly scolded by the Vancouver Olympic Organizing Committee.

Source: The Wall Street Journal

Get started right away. Create a company Gmail account (hopefully something close to companyname@gmail.com) that you will use as a company Google Buzz account. “As an individual, you hopefully already have a Google account with Gmail for RSS and other things, but if not, get one for yourself, too,” Volpe recommends.

Find people in your industry, and follow them. “Following more people gives Google Buzz a better idea of what you like and don’t like, and it does encourage other people to follow you back because they do get notified that you followed them,” says Volpe. However, he notes, right now you can only use Google Buzz on Android phones and iPhones, so you may need to wait to get started on this.

Multimedia, multimedia, multimedia! “The golden rule in social media is to be interesting, and Google Buzz allows you to be more interesting more easily using multimedia (photo and video) content,” says Volpe. “Just like LinkedIn, Twitter or Facebook, your status updates alone are not very interesting to people. You need to create useful and interesting blog articles, photos, videos and more, and post that type of information. Google Buzz has multimedia support built-in, so use it!”

Encourage everyone in your organization to be active on Google Buzz. “Marketing is not just for the marketing department anymore,” says Volpe. “You need to get lots of people in your company to blog, to be active in social media and to reach out to the community of people in your industry.”

Remember that social media affects SEO, too. Google has already started to put social status updates into search results, and they recently launched social search, Volpe notes. “All this means that even if you think everyone you sell to will never use social media, you still need to have a presence in social media as [an organization],” he advises. “Building a larger presence in social media and using social media to promote your content will help you rank more often in plain old search results (which are no longer so ‘plain’ or ‘old’).”

Viral content is more important than ever. “The one thing that Google Buzz does differently from other social media services is that it curates or filters the content from the people you follow, meaning that only the best or most popular content bubbles to the top,” says Volpe. “Google Buzz will also show people recommended from people they are not following, based on popularity. So, the more viral and popular your content is the further and faster it will spread. This recommendation feature is somewhat unique to Google Buzz, and makes viral content even more important to being successful.”

Source: HubSpot

• 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.

Stop self-deprecation. “Be aware of the phrases, nervous laughs and other verbal or visual paraphernalia you subconsciously use to make yourself less important,” says Mayo-Smith. The worst offender, she notes, is “Hi, it’s only me.” After all, she asks, why is it only you? “Also, don’t overuse the word ‘just,’ as in ‘I just wanted to say,’” she adds.

Make a connection in meetings. Introduce yourself to groups and large meetings as an opportunity to connect, Mayo-Smith suggests. “Instead of saying ‘I’m Tracey from marketing,’ provide your first and last name clearly, with one quick detail — ‘I’m Tracey Poole, coordinator for marketing. I’m the one who sends you our monthly newsletter,’” she suggests.

Make an intellectual connection. “You intellectually connect by having a structured and logical organization for what you want to say,” says Mayo-Smith. To do this well, she suggests, form your presentation/speech/sales pitch with the following points in mind:

1. Who is your audience, their age, attitude, industry, and gender?
2. What does that person want to know from me?
3. Answer objections up front. Why you specifically? How are you qualified? Why should they take your advice and make a change?
4. Give your premise up front. “This is the main point you’re making — how your audience will benefit from what you ask them to do,” Mayo-Smith explains.

Source: NZ Heraldd News

In addition, she says, the direct pursuit of licensing also leaves much to be desired. “We need to be more proactive in commercialization,” she says. “Our patent portfolio is small — 36 patents — but we still we need more help.” That’s in part because of the structure of the university system, which includes 11 campuses. “We only have five campuses where there are significant research activities — actually three with currently significant activity, and two that are showing signs, although the small colleges do have some patents,” Fernandez-Repollet observes. “We have an Office of Intellectual Property and Commercialization that services the whole system, plus three main campuses — Rio Piedras, Mayaguez, and the Medical Science campuses — which also have their own minimal support for legal work, although the patent lawyers are at the system level.”

The creation of the Puerto Rico Trust for Science, Technology and Research in 2004, says Fernandez-Repollet, opened the way for the eventual joint development of a new commercialization model. “The Trust was established as an autonomous entity separated from the government to promote economic growth through innovation. One of the things that is really needed in Puerto Rico is the development of a knowledge-based economy,” she explains. “When the Trust was created, we decided to take advantage of it — and through it create a tech transfer structure that not only served the university system but the country, private universities, and even the government.” The new model is just now coming to fruition, she says. “We are in the process of hiring the individual who will be in charge of establishing the two units that will address those weaknesses.”

She already has a clear vision for how the “scouting” unit should take shape. “There should be two or three positions created (to cover the East and West areas of the island) for people with experience in tech transfer and science, who will visit the campuses, interview the researchers, and develop activities that will attract the young people and also put together people from business and research,” she says. “They should start with research that is funded already, and determine how much of that can be patented. This has not often been done in the past because investigators do not have the necessary knowledge; they need to be exposed to new thinking.” A The second unit would pick up where the first one left off, “by hiring people or by contracting services to look at the current patent portfolio, identify which inventions have commercial potential, and try to license them.” A detailed article on IP marketing efforts in Puerto Rico appears in the February 2010 issue of Intellectual Property Marketing Advisor. To subscribe and get the entire article, plus gain access to the entire archive of back issues, CLICK HERE.

She cites defensive, offensive, and “scarecrow” patents as strategies to meet different competitive needs. Defensive patents can protect the patentee by preventing others from applying for the same or similar patents, or by allowing the patentee to counter-sue if competitors allege patent infringement. An offensive patent prevents other companies from using inventions or requires licenses from the patentee in return for fees or royalties. A scarecrow patent is not asserted by the patentee in an infringement action, but nevertheless serves to ‘scare off’ potential infringers or competitors. It provides a way to eliminate unfair competition by showing potential infringers there is “patent certainty” even if no infringement claim is asserted.

Zhang suggests that medium and small-sized enterprises that do not meet requirements for managing their IP should enhance cooperation with universities, research institutions, venture funds, and other partners.

Source: China Daily

• Performing Market Research Studies: Testing the Waters to De-Risk Your IP Investments — Next Wednesday, February 24, 2010
• Tech Transfer Marketing on a Shoestring: Guerilla Tactics in a Budget-Cut World — Tuesday, March 9, 2010
• The Bilski Decision: Expert Strategies to Manage Its Impact on University IP — Tuesday, March 30, 2010

Entrants are required to submit a two- or three-page description of their business. BR Ventures student managers will review each entry and select up to five to advance as finalists. Those chosen will be required to flesh their ideas out into a short business plan that will be presented to a panel of venture capitalists, successful entrepreneurs, business and law professionals, and a public audience on April 15, as part of the university-wide Entrepreneurship@Cornell celebration.

Source: Johnson School at Cornell University News Room

The School: The University of Virginia School of Engineering and Applied Science was founded in 1836. It is the second oldest engineering school in the country and the first at a public university. The mission of the School is to educate men and women to be leaders in technology and society that contributes to the well-being of our citizens through the creation and transfer of knowledge. The School has an enrollment of approximately 2,200 undergraduate and 650 graduate students supported by 146 academic faculty. Most undergraduates complete advanced degrees in engineering as well as in business, law, and the life sciences. The School’s development staff provides essential private funds for student financial aid, faculty support, capital projects, and alumni relations. Read more about the School at www.seas.virginia.edu.

Qualifications: Candidates must be committed to advancing the School of Engineering and Applied Science and should possess the following:

Required:

• Entrepreneurial approach to promoting the School’s needs and ambitions;
• Management and leadership experience with the ability to motivate and inspire;
• Bachelor’s degree, Master’s preferred (degree from the University of Virginia a plus);
• Demonstrated strong verbal communication skills;
• Demonstrated ability to write clearly and persuasively;
• Significant business or educational development, marketing or sales experience.

Preferred:

• Ability to develop relationships with leaders in broad range of business and professional fields, including engineering and science;
• Interest in engineering and science and ability to explain the School’s curricula, programs, and projects to friends and alumni.

How to apply: Please prepare and upload a cover letter stating your interest in the position, along with a CV and three references, to: https://jobs.virginia.edu and search posting number 0605107 under the University Staff category. If nominating an individual for this opportunity, please include the nominee’s contact information and send electronically to: executivesearch@virginia.edu.

The position will remain open until filled and the search will be carried out with full confidentiality; candidates will be notified before references are contacted. For further information, please contact Gary Helmuth or Meredith Manson at (434) 982-4900 or (434) 924-4454; email at: executivesearch@virginia.edu.

The University of Virginia is an Equal Opportunity/Affirmative Action Employer.

Return to Job Listings

Description

This position is responsible for developing and managing the technology development strategy for EMD Bioscience business in concert with and under the direction of the Director of Business Development and Licensing. This position is responsible for technology in-licensing and out-licensing for EMD Biosciences. This position performs complex specialized intellectual property licensing work on all areas of the Bioscience market and develops a strong “innovative science” image of the company through collaboration with high level global research institutes, pharmaceutical and biotech companies. Identifies, presents, and evaluates technical, market and financial aspects of a technology opportunity in conjunction with the R&D and Product Management groups. Acts as primary contact and negotiates licensing terms with external parties. Works with legal to develop contract and negotiate deals and partnerships to accomplish the corporate strategy.

Duties may include, but are not limited to the following:

• Make significant contributions to the Bioscience strategy for innovative technologies to develop into solutions for our customers and contribute to the bioscience growth.
• Scout for technologies that support the bioscience strategy.
• Identify, present to the organization, and coordinate the in-licensing of technologies.
• Identify and evaluate bioscience companies for acquisition targets.
• Act as primary contact with potential licensors.
• Develop and negotiate Confidential Disclosure Agreements (CDA) and Material Transfer Agreements (MTA).
• Licensing contracts and collaboration agreements.
• Work with internal resources (Product Management, R&D, and Legal) to develop business models to support investment in technologies and licenses.
• Manage EMD’s scientific advisory board for the bioscience business.
• Work with Product Management and R&D to evaluate commercial potential of relevant technologies by defining markets, market size, competing technologies, etc. and new markets for growth.
• Have a strong understanding of intellectual property and provide primary assessment of such.
• Work with the Legal Department to evaluate the intellectual property status of technologies under consideration for licensing.
• Utilize and update contact database for all opportunities identified and evaluated.
• Act as a liaison between EMD Biosciences and Merck KGaA, Darmstadt business development, R&D and Corporate acquisition team.

Qualifications

A Ph.D. or Master’s degree in Molecular Biology, Proteomics or related field is required. MBA preferred. At least 7 years experience in technology assessment and product development. Experience in the business aspect of life science company, research and development and commercialization. Experience in negotiation of licensing technology deals and acquisition target evaluations.

This position is open to: For local candidates only.

To apply for this position, please click here.

EMD Chemicals, Inc.
10394 Pacific Center Court
San Diego, CA 92121
Home:   www.emdchemicals.com

Return to Job Listings

Having a unique Japanese connection in place, with the resulting exchange of information between two countries and two cultures, is viewed by SUNY as both a triumph for the state-of-the-art incubator as well as a catalyst to fuel the growth of start-up businesses that create new jobs in the area. “If you can imagine this beautiful facility essentially being the door to Japan, it’s not hard to envision a lot of exciting things happening in the neighborhood in the next couple years,” says incubator director Robert Fritzinger. “I’m not sure that I could imagine a more important initiative than putting this relationship in place right now. It’s a real coup for the incubator, the university and the region.”

“This is going to be a good start for a big future,” says Yoji Yuki, president and CEO of Niiagata Technology Licensing Organization and a senior fellow at Niigata University. “We will try to transfer technology from Japan to the U.S. and from the U.S. to Japan, ending up with new start-up businesses here and also over there. That’s our main goal.” Sato’s position is being funded by Japan’s Ministry of Economics, Trade and Industry, along with university consortium members. Among the many objectives of her residency are: learning the day-to-day operation of a university-affiliated technology incubator; becoming acquainted with the role that grants and contracts play in supporting development and transfer of new technologies and supporting faculty and private-sector entrepreneurs; and learning about SUNY Research Foundation policies and procedures that govern technology transfer and intellectual property management. She will work out of an office at the incubator and also serve an internship at the university’s Office of Sponsored Programs.

Near the end of her residency, Sato will develop a plan to increase technology related collaboration between SUNY Fredonia, other SUNY campuses, Niigata University and Japanese university consortium members. Suggested strategies to increase faculty interaction, research sharing, technology transfer and patent development and licensing will also be included. In addition, part of her mission will focus on helping local entrepreneurs learn about Japanese ways of business.

Source: The Observer

And don’t miss these outstanding upcoming sessions:

• Performing Market Research Studies: Testing the Waters to De-Risk Your IP Investments — Wednesday, February 24
• Tech Transfer Marketing on a Shoestring: Guerilla Tactics in a Budget-Cut World — Tuesday, March 9
• The Bilski Decision: Expert Strategies to Manage Its Impact on University IP — Tuesday, March 30, 2010

UMIP’s head of market development Mark Thompson adds: “The feedback we have had from users has been excellent, as the whole system is designed to be extremely simple and easy to use, and it delivers high quality information in a very digestible format. Although take-up by large technology companies has been very strong, this is also the first system which is particularly suitable for SMEs to use to either market their technology or seek out innovations.” In addition to serving as a free tool for marketing technology, the IP Net platform allows technology seekers to advertise for technologies they are looking for. The system offers users tailored feeds of quality technology e-mail alerts in a succinct format, allowing people to review a large number of technology innovations very quickly, according to UMIP.

Source: MHW Magazine

The relationship, he adds, is based on a “partnership perspective,” with UTRF serving the technology commercialization function and managing the partnership with CEG. Hopkins says that partnership has already had an impact on start-up growth. “One of the things they helped us do was put together a proposal for an incubator facility on the Knoxville campus,” he says. The modest facility (15,000 square feet with light manufacturing, office space, and no wet labs) went into operation two years ago. “Along with CEG we have conducted outreach programs for entrepreneurship and tried to identify potential entrepreneurs within the research staff and local community,” he adds. “Some of them we already knew, but we also held open forums and discussions about entrepreneurism. Our business school has also been active recently with some new faculty members coming on board, and they have also worked with CEG.”

“Our primary goal is to help companies as they move through the various stages of growth, particularly those early stages when the technology is not commercialized and needs a ‘gate’ into that sector,” adds John Morris, executive director of CEG. “They need to understand funding mechanisms, and how to prepare themselves for growth. We help them with their business plans and visioning, but also with execution steps along the way. Sometimes we help the scientist in the lab start his own company, and sometimes it’s the marriage of a promising technology with a seasoned entrepreneur — it depends on the situation.” A detailed article on the UTRF partnership with CEG and its impact on university start-ups appears in the February 2010 issue of Intellectual Property Marketing Advisor. To access the article and start a subscription, including access to the entire archive of back issues, CLICK HERE.

“We thought we could do the standard panel, but those have been done a lot. So we thought, why don’t we do something involving role-playing?” says Telthorst, previously an executive at Boston Scientific, Johnson & Johnson and Baxter Healthcare. “We wanted to get the experience of people who’ve been there, lived it, and can share the lessons learned.”

“The role-playing reflects real-world situations routinely experienced by our clients in trying to commercialize their inventions,” adds Todd G. Vare, the script writer and a partner at the law firm hosting the screening, Barnes & Thornburg, and the script writer. “We thought that this unique presentation style would be a dynamic way of educating attendees on the various challenges involved.” The three acts follow a university professor as he works with tech transfer staff and venture capitalists to commercialize his research; a company trying to get to the next level when capital funding starts drying up; and a “fictional pharmaceutical company” that enters into an agreement to outsource part of its drug development efforts. Some of the “actors” are people who are basing their performances on real-life experiences. After each act, moderators will lead an audience Q&A discussion about what they have just seen, followed by a brief presentation from individuals telling their related first-hand experiences.

“We want to engage our audience in a different way,” Telthorst notes. “This is an experiment. This may go well, and we’ll do more of these, or this may get the ‘raspberries’…. We’re trying a different way to transfer learning. In either case, we’ll learn from it.”

Source: Newswise

Royalty Rates for Trademarks & Copyrights, 4th Edition, features 30% more transactions and benchmark rates than previous editions. Along with an unrivaled set of benchmarks and real-world rates from transactions completed through 2009, this edition also shows how to implement financial models for the derivation of royalty rates. Details are included on rules of thumb, profit differential calculations, investment rate of return analyses, and discounted cash flow analysis, along with examples that can be used as a template for your specific applications. For details, a table of contents, sample pages, and to order, CLICK HERE.

With Royalty Rates for Technology: Medical Devices and Diagnostics Edition, we’ve created a targeted reference by deriving all medical device and diagnostics entries from the more comprehensive — and more costly — technology edition of this unique benchmarking series. If your interest is focused primarily on the medical device industry, you can access this valuable data at a much lower price than the larger volume. It reports all available compensation terms from scores of completed medical device license agreements, gathered from more than 20 years of Mr. Parr’s research. You’ll find details on fixed royalty rates, per unit royalties, scaled royalty rates, and license fees. CLICK HERE for more information and to order.

All editions in the series provide more than just rates and data — you get context as well. For each transaction you’ll find:

• A description of the licensed technology
• Compensation terms including royalty rates and license fees
• Identity of the licensor and licensee
• Transaction background and history
• Market analysis and benefits of the licensed technology

1. Assume that great content alone will create buzz and go viral. “This is . . . probably one of the easiest [mistakes] to avoid,” says Shapiro. “No agency should promise that content alone can go viral, so don’t fall for the promise; you are setting yourself up for disappointment.”
2. Put all your buzz eggs in one social media basket. The expectations that people have about social media are way out of proportion to what it can deliver, Shapiro notes. “You need a diversity of outlets to achieve critical mass in reach and frequency to break through,” she advises. “Diversification is the hallmark of a well-developed digital plan.”
3. Diving into social media without a clear monetization plan. “I wonder why it seems acceptable for social media to be held to a different set of performance standards than traditional tactics,” Shapiro observes. “Any seasoned marketing pro understands that marketing programs need clear performance benchmarks — whether that be for an e-mail campaign or a new site.”
4. Expect immediate results. “No one expects traditional media plans to work overnight, yet people hope, even expect, social media to magically launch a brand overnight from a cold start because it can go viral,” says Shapiro. “But it does not work in any marketing program — and social media programs are no exception.”
5. Fail to ensure consistent management of the strategy. “I don’t expect an agency to spend all day long managing their blog — but I do expect that if they bother to have a blog then it should be managed as a reflection of their philosophy to walk the walk and not just talk the talk,” says Shapiro. The next time you are seduced by a brilliant social or digital marketing tactic, she says, feel free to fall in love — “just don’t lose your business head in the process.”

Source: Trenchwars Weblog

“If there are any milestones you’ve hit, or successes you’ve had, make sure we know that,” she said. “And tell us what moment in time your company is in,” added Krinzman, founder and managing director of Venture Architects, which helps companies with business plans and investor presentations. In addition, she said, it’s very important for your plan to answer the following question: “What problem are you solving?” What’s more, she noted, investors — and judges — want to see that you have the team required to execute your plan.

It’s critically important to describe your target customer and marketing strategy, Krinzman continued. “In today’s economy it is all about sales and marketing, so we want to know if you know how to sell and market the product,” she stressed. Throughout the plan, she added, you should be concise - and use bullet points liberally. Do not be afraid to address the competition, she advised. “This is a section a lot of people skip — or they say they have no competition; big mistake,” Krinzman opined. “Everyone has competition in some shape or form, so briefly describe the competitive landscape.”

Whether you are writing a full plan or a shorter version for a competition, Krinzman suggested showing it to friends who don’t know much about your business — and to take note of their questions.

Source: Miami Herald

Also coming soon:

• Patent Prosecution: Best Practices for Reducing Costs While Improving Patent Quality — Next Tuesday, February 9, 2010
• Performing Market Research Studies: Testing the Waters to De-Risk Your IP Investments — Wednesday, February 24, 2010
• Tech Transfer Marketing on a Shoestring: Guerilla Tactics in a Budget-Cut World — Tuesday, March 9, 2010

• Dave Yang, founder, CTO, and VP of Vimicro, was at CES to announce a scene-based, high-fidelity image processing technology for surveillance markets. The quality, he says, is good enough for high accuracy video analytics and to use as criminal evidence due to its image/video process and compression, which preserves the details of the original scene. Microsoft, Samsung, Sony, HP, Logitech, Lenovo, and Philips are some of the companies already counted among Vimicro’s customers.
• Dr. Qiang Gao, inventor, founder, and CEO of IVT Corporation, told of a personal loss that led him to develop IVT’s newest product: the Mobile Health Management and Rescue Service System. Built around vital sign monitoring, the technology is aimed at the elderly and ill, for their caregivers, physicians, and emergency centers. Gao is hoping to develop distributors worldwide.
• Liu Yingjian, chairman of the board of Hanwang Science and Technology, developed the first online handwriting character recognition (OCR) device. The company owns IP in online handwriting cursive recognition, OCR, and digital drawing tablets.
• The IGRS Engineering Lab spokesman and president, Dr. Yuning Sun, said despite the investment in a CES exhibit the company had no specific products to offer at present. Rather, he explained, IGRS’s goal is to develop products that overcome incompatibility between drives, interfaces, and network configurations.
• Dr. Gang Qiu, founder of Patentics, a large-scale concept search engine, described his company’s next generation, intelligent search engine that can translate patents and document content worldwide.
• ShiZhu Li, the moderator from Zhongguancun, acted as interpreter for the panel and the audience as questions were posed both in English and Chinese. He ended the day by saying, “We are proud to be here this year, because we are with world class players, and we brought innovative entrepreneurs. We come as a team from the Science Park in China telling one story. We have this name, ZhongGuanCun, that’s hard to pronounce. You will keep it in your mind.” He concluded, “we’ll be back.”

Source: Bright Side of News

• Marketing Intellectual Property
• Available Technologies
• Technology Commercialization Process
• Technology Transfer Offices
• Licensing and Deal Making
• Symbiotic Innovation
• Virtual Teams
• Competitive Intelligence

Of these, the first two are by far the most frequently addressed topics. “We blog twice a week,” says Laura Schoppe, president of Fuentek. “On Tuesdays we will post things relevant to the industry, such as tech transfer tips and techniques, and on Thursdays we blog on technologies for our clients.”

The reason from promoting clients’ technology is clear, but what is the rationale for addressing issues of the day? “There are a couple of reasons,” says Schoppe. “First, we think it’s important when things happen in the industry that they be responded to in a timely fashion, so we’ll note that ‘X’ happened, and this is why we think it’s a good idea, or why we think it could cause problems for people trying to commercialize their technologies. So, this benefits the industry as a whole — practitioners and clients. We also feel it helps establish us as thought leaders. We’ve been doing this a very long time; we want to share the insights we’ve gained from looking at thousands of technologies, and make people aware that Fuentek does this and is good at it.”

“We wanted to raise awareness in the community of Fuentek as a thought leader, but also [use the blog] as a way to advertize the technologies we are marketing.” echoes Karen Hiser, technology transfer consultant and the Fuentek lead on using the blog for technology marketing. “We have a process and a schedule for doing that. We look to leverage the search engines and have people find these blogs. It expands our reach beyond what we could ever hope to do with trade shows, cold calling, mailings, and so forth.” A detailed article on Fuentek’s blogging strategy appears in the February 2010 issue of Intellectual Property Marketing Advisor. To subscribe and read the full article, plus gain access to the entire archive of strategy-filled back issues, CLICK HERE.

• Register with Google Maps. Google allows local businesses (big or small) a chance to register their business address and phone number in its local listings, Eitan notes. “If, for example, someone searches for a keyword together with a location, e.g. ‘nw11 plumber,’ the search results will include listings from Google Local displayed on a map next to the normal search results,” he explains.
• Upload products to Google Product Search. “To start selling products on Google Products, all you need is to prepare a data feed and a Google user account,” says Eitan. Also known as Google Base, this free service allows businesses to get specific products or services on first-page results. “In most cases these will appear just below the paid results and will include an image, title, price and direct link to the product or service,” he notes.
• Get a voucher for AdWords. Google’s AdWords is by far the biggest paid ads medium. “If you search hard enough you may come across a free voucher, which will charge your account and let you use Adwords at no cost until the funds run out,” says Eitan. “Your bank might offer such a voucher when you open an account or when you attend a Google university course (which are free and managed by Google).”

Other no-cost options, says Eitan, include social marketing and blogging. He says you might also consider the following options, which do cost money but which enable you to “test the waters” for a modest investment:

• Register with niche directories. Most industries have a few directories which will drive qualified web traffic to your site, says Eitan, but be careful “not to register with directories which offer little value or are unrelated to your industry,” which will generate essentially worthless traffic, he advises.
• Start an affiliate program. Affiliate Marketing is an Internet-based marketing practice in which a business rewards another for each sale generated by the affiliate, Eitan explains. “You can either self-manage the program by buying an off the shelf affiliate tracking software or use a type of middleman service to link between you and the affiliate; each has its pros and cons, and each case is different,” he notes.
• E-mail marketing. Newsletters, product updates, and e-mail promotions are fantastic to keep in touch with customers or prospects and easy to manage, says Eitan. “The key is to communicate relevant messages, at the right time and at the right frequency,” he adds, noting that there are a number of web-based e-mail software providers — some such as Mail Chimp that even offer a free plan.
• Improve your search engine ranking. The most cost effective marketing channel with the lowest cost per acquisition is the natural traffic channel also known as SEO, says Eitan. “By optimizing your website in accordance with the search engine guidelines you will notice that with time organic traffic will find its way to your site,” he says. Although this channel is technically ‘free,’ it does require a lot of your time, and is thus similar to a paid service, he says, adding that Google is the best source for learning more about SEO.

Source: Karen Blakeman’s Blog

Source: stuff.co.nz

Required: Bachelors or Master’s degree in an IT, Communications or Computer Science-related field with 10-12 years of industry and/or hands-on technology licensing experience. Strong leadership, research/analytical, organizational and problem solving skills required. The ability to positively and proactively interact with Lab inventors, Lab management and commercial contacts along with being able to maintain and further develop a user-friendly reputation for the OTT function with both APL and industry customers is required. Proven ability to generate deals, negotiate and close on reasonable terms and conditions for licensing (more) rights, knowledge of licensing business and/or patent law and up-to-date technical knowledge and ability to conduct technical assessments. Demonstrated leadership and project management skills including excellent written and oral communication skills and the ability to deliver high quality and quantity output on several complex projects at once. Desired: Advanced technical degree and/or MBA. Prior direct supervisory or program management experience.

Applicants selected will be subject to a government security investigation and must meet the eligibility requirements for access to classified information. Eligibility requirements include US citizenship.

APL offers a comprehensive benefits package including a liberal vacation plan, a matching retirement program, significant educational assistance, a scholarship tuition program for staff with dependents, and competitive salaries commensurate with skills and experience. For more information about our organization, please visit our web site at www.jhuapl.edu. To apply for this position, click Employment Opportunities and apply for job 030131.

Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory is an equal opportunity/affirmative action employer that complies with Title IX of the Education Amendments Act of 1972, as well as other applicable laws, and values diversity in its workforce.

Return to Job Listings

“We’re excited to be able to offer enhanced services and unique content to our communities. Our partnership with UTEK will make it easier for those who are seeking in- and out-licensing opportunities to view the breadth and depth of what may be available to them,” states Paul Ratcliffe, CEO of Patents.com.

“Through this partnership we will syndicate licensing data from our online platforms direct to the growing Patents.com community, and millions of new visitors will now be exposed to our unique content. We believe this increased, well-targeted traffic will drive market efficiencies and help our clients realize more value from their IP portfolios,” adds Doug Schaedler, UTEK’s chief executive. Through the partnership, UTEK will assume an advisory role on the Patents.com Board of Directors as well as have a right of first refusal to acquire Patents.com over the next six-months.

Sources: Patents.com and Utek

• Performing Market Research Studies: Testing the Waters to De-Risk Your IP Investments, on Wednesday, February 24, 2010, features a high-powered roundtable of four marketing pros and an IP attorney, who’ll focus on improving triage using market research tools and strategies. CLICK HERE for full faculty and program details.
• Tech Transfer Marketing on a Shoestring: Guerilla Tactics in a Budget-Cut World, on Tuesday, March 9, 2010, will deliver a treasure trove of inventive, clever, out-of-the-box ideas to move your innovations to market without busting your budget, and also features a 30-minute idea-sharing add-on session. CLICK HERE for complete information and to register.

PLUS, don’t miss:

• TOMORROW, January 27: “Shrink Wrap” Your University’s Technologies for Industry: Packaging Your Innovations to Minimize Corporate Risk and Extract Optimum Licensing Value.
• IN TWO WEEKS, Tuesday, February 9: Patent Prosecution: Best Practices for Reducing Costs While Improving Patent Quality.

Unfortunately, he says, IP holders (universities, researchers, and start-ups) are often guilty of one or more marketing errors that can prevent them from achieving their ultimate goal. One such error involves letting others capture the potential added value of your IP. “Avoid commoditizing the value of your IP, if at all possible,” Drapp advises. “One of our clients produces a nano-material that creates a hypo-retardant barrier. Now, they could have licensed or sold their material in bulk to other manufacturers who would incorporate the benefits into their own products, thus capturing the added value in their respective markets. Instead, our client has created its own line of sealant products for the home improvement, boating, auto, aircraft, fishing and outdoor markets. So, which would you rather have — the eroding margins on a nameless bulk nano-material, or the higher margins and branding power of a line of products with the exclusive claim to the benefits of your proprietary technology? “

At nanoEdge, says Drapp, there is an ongoing effort to focus on added value opportunities to create new products and processes utilizing clients’ IP. “This will increase profit margins, increase valuations, and increase barriers to entry to potential competitors,” he says. “A raw material or single component is easier to reverse engineer or replace than a more complex product or process that incorporates trade secrets and other technologies with the core IP. This helps ensure that your core market value isn’t riding on a ‘one-trick pony.’” A detailed article on common errors in IP marketing appears in the January 2010 issue of Intellectual Property Marketing Advisor. To subscribe and read the full article, plus gain access to the entire archive of strategy-filled back issues, CLICK HERE.

1. Measure everything: “Wasteful marketing can be a real drain on a business’ budget,” say the authors. “Before you start any type of marketing, set up a system in which you can measure the success, or failure, of each marketing strategy and tactic.”
2. Have a good lead generation system: “Never in the history of marketing have there been so many ways to attract customers to a website, or store front; the trick is to sort through the clutter to find what works for your business and your customers,” the authors note. By knowing your customers, they say, you’ll know exactly in which medium your business should advertise.
3. Know your customers: “Building a marketing system without knowing your customers is like building a house on marsh land; it will collapse immediately,” the authors write. Knowing your customers, on the other hand, will allow you to determine how best to get your best prospects’ attention. “Get out of the office and interview them,” they suggest. “Find out what problems they have, what magazines they read, which websites they frequent. If you bury yourself in their world, you will build the foundation for a successful marketing campaign.”
4. Compete on value, not price: Too many business owners think that prospects simply want the lowest priced product or service, say the authors. “Once you find what your customers value, then you can charge a premium for it,” they advise.
5. Speak about your customers’ problems, not your products: “Often, business owners build an entire marketing system around the product specifications. For instance, the website and brochure will speak endlessly about how fast a signal processor is, or how much data a product can store,” the authors note. “Instead, these brochures should speak about the customers’ problems and how you, as a business owner, can solve them.”
6. Offer multiple products for multiple customers: Not all customers are the same; some may want an introductory offer, while others can’t wait to tell their friends about you, the authors note. “By treating every customer the same, you are doing a disservice to your business and your customer,” they warn.

Source: PRWeb

“VANOC set the stage for this kind of backlash early on because they were way too aggressive. . . . Now they’re in a case where other [companies] are saying, ‘We dare ya, go ahead, take a shot at us in court,”‘ says Meredith. Lawsuits to stop the ambush were more feasible when organizers were chasing mom-and-pop businesses like Vancouver’s 15-year-old Olympic Pizza, which VANOC pressured to change its name and five-ring-bearing signage. But tackling brazen campaigns mounted by large corporations like Scotiabank, Lululemon and Roots — who all argue they’re merely tapping an Olympic-related surge in national pride — means juggling the hassles of both legal costs and the potential for bad PR. “I think VANOC has shot itself in the foot by dealing with people in such a strict way before, because now there’s a perception in the mind of the public that VANOC wants to go too far,” says Mira Sundara Rajan, a UBC professor who holds the Canada Research Chair in Intellectual Property Law.

Vancouver was the backdrop when Scotiabank unveiled a photo and story-submitting contest that uses images of fans in red and white cheering an amorphous sporting event. A company spokesman denied the campaign is trying to associate with the Olympics, adding he’s confident it worked within organizer-issued guidelines. VANOC has exclusive Canadian marketing rights to Olympic brands until Dec. 21, 2012, and only official sponsors are allowed to market products directly tied to the Games.

Roots, which had a long history of suiting up Olympic athletes before ties were cut and The Bay got the contract in 2005, has not been lambasted for its “Canada Collection,” a line of outerwear from which some proceeds go to the Right to Play sports charity. But VANOC has excluded the charity from the Athletes Village because it’s sponsored by Mastercard, a competitor of Games’ sponsor Visa. VANOC stands by its ongoing response. “We still feel quite strongly that our approach from early on … was appropriate,” says Bill Cooper, director of commercial rights management, adding sponsors are “fairly satisfied.” Without its aggressive stance, he adds, “we believe the volume of infringements … would be considerably larger.”

Roots co-founder Michael Budman admits to “taking advantage” of the “joy and fabric” of the Games, but won’t characterize that as ambush marketing. “I look at VANOC as an organization that is so paranoid, so protective of something petty — their whole proposition during bidding was [the Olympics] is for the country, but now it’s only for sponsors,” he says. “In our opinion, VANOC has created a cloud of negativity around 2010.”

Source: Google News

• A description of the licensed technology
• Compensation terms including royalty rates and license fees
• Identity of the licensor and licensee
• Transaction background and history
• Market analysis and benefits of the licensed technology

This new edition is available for immediate download. For more detail and to order, CLICK HERE.

He quotes business strategist Michael Porter: “I used to see this area of corporate social philanthropy as the last thing on my agenda 10 years ago, but now I agree that social and economic issues are intertwined. Corporate philanthropy — or corporate social responsibility — is becoming an ever more important field for business. Today’s companies ought to invest in corporate social responsibility as part of their business strategy to become more competitive.”

Source: Business Success Secrets

Intellectual Property Marketing Advisor,
Vol. 3, No. 1 (pp 112) January 2010

• Business exec turned TTO leader brings bottom-line orientation — and gets results. Jay Schrankler, executive director of the Office for Technology Commercialization at the University of Minnesota, came to UMinn from a Fortune 500 company — and it shows.
• “Pipeline overviews” help market IP to investors, potential licensees. One of the most effective marketing vehicles being used by the TTO at the University of Colorado is a collateral piece they call their “pipeline overview.” The overview gives potential investors and partners a status update on current technologies.
• WARF updates technology summaries to reach wider audiences. You’d think that a TTO recognized as a leader in the field might not feel the need to revamp an entire segment of its marketing strategy, but that’s exactly what the Wisconsin Alumni Research Foundation (WARF) did recently when it revamped its technology summaries.
• TTO exec says widely used rankings can be deceiving. TTOs with high rankings from AUTM or other organizations will rightfully use those high marks as part of their overall marketing strategy. However, such numbers can be deceiving.
• Marketing tactics help generate stimulus funds. At last year’s AUTM meeting, several attendees predicted that government stimulus funds would create a windfall for universities seeking to finance research projects, and for a number of institutions that prediction has come true.
• Four common mistakes cited as impeding successful marketing of IP. “The value of your IP is not ultimately determined by the brilliance of your science; the value of your IP is determined by what the market will pay for it — and the more leveraged value you can create from your core IP, the more the market will pay,” asserts serial entrepreneur Michael R. Drapp.
• While technology advances, characterization of IP remains key. Even the technological whizzes that devise and market newer and better ways to support TTO marketing efforts recognize that some things never change when it comes to effective IP marketing.

“Research conducted at the University of Utah not only advances science, technology and medicine, but also has positive economic effects that are felt broadly outside of academia,” notes Jan Crispin, the study’s author and senior research economist at the Bureau of Economic and Business Research (BEBR) at the University’s David Eccles School of Business. Crispin estimated that every one million spent on sponsored research at the university supports 20 jobs in Utah, generates approximately $849,450 in earnings for Utah workers, contributes $1.4 million in GSP, and provides $86,135 in state and local tax revenue.

“In fiscal year 2009, the university collected a record $354.7 million in research funding,” notes Tom Parks, the university’s vice president for research. “This new study makes it easy to translate the power of that funding, not only for students and research outcomes on campus, but also on the economy of the entire state.”

Source: University of Utah News Center

• “Shrink Wrap” Your University’s Technologies for Industry: Packaging Your Innovations to Minimize Corporate Risk and Extract Optimum Licensing Value - Wednesday, January 27, 2010
• Patent Prosecution: Best Practices for Reducing Costs While Improving Patent Quality - Tuesday, February 9, 2010
• Performing Market Research Studies: Testing the Waters to De-Risk Your IP Investments - Wednesday, February 24, 2010
• Tech Transfer Marketing on a Shoestring: Guerilla Tactics in a Budget-Cut World - Tuesday, March 9, 2010

TAEUS is currently seeking to make it easier for TTOs to be found by people interested in particular types of IP, as well as making it easier for TTO staff to publish the information those visitors will eventually see. It has just released a product called TAEUS IPortalware — a content management system specifically designed to manage IP websites. “Basically, this a website engine designed for marketing IP and hosting an entire IP website,” Troyer explains. “The user logs in to an administrative interface, and uses a set of very simple forms that allow them to list IP, or portfolios, and tie them all together.”

“You also get a click-through from the most common patent search sites — content that is not really put out by TT offices, but it works in such a way that with a simple click people interested in licensing specific types of IP can get to your site,” adds Paul M. Smith, PhD, MBA, CLP, a patent agent with Sandia National Laboratories in Albuquerque, NM, which beta tested the software and is about to go live with it. “In our case, the visitor can come to the Sandia site, put in keywords, and get a response back as to what our patents are,” Smith continues. “Part of the power is that in the TAEUS model folks can go to Internet search sites, put in the same keywords, and with its click-through capability go to many TTO sites and learn about the patents. It makes it easier for people with IP to find [related IP], and for people like us it’s easier to get information out on the web.

“The user is directed to the site through an icon that appears on the screen, which brings up another feature that Smith appreciates — the ‘pay-per-click’ model. “When someone clicks the icon, Sandia pays a small amount of money (less than a dollar) to TAEUS,” he explains. “This helps control the costs of marketing — although you do not know how many clicks there will be.” However, he adds, since the Sandia site is only being visited by people with a specific interest in its IP, those visitors are “really targeted.” A detailed article on effective characterization of IP appears in the January 2010 issue of Intellectual Property Marketing Advisor. To start an annual subscription and get the complete article, plus access to the entire archive of strategy-filled back issues, CLICK HERE.

Source: MediaPost

1. An attractive cover page with your company’s logo, location, contact information, and title.
2. An executive summary that includes current status, products or services, market, financial forecast, overall objectives, funding required, and return on investment schedule. “This portion of your business plan should be no more than two pages,” Kay advises.
3. A table of contents that gives investors a clear roadmap to the contents of the remainder of the document.
4. Detail on the company or organization, its objectives and management team.
5. Projected market and your expected market share based on real data.
6. Analysis of your products, discriminators and competition
7. Your marketing/selling strategy — how will you gain sales, customers, and market share.
8. Financial data — income, cost of sales (material, labor, overhead), operating expenses, assets (including equipment and intellectual property), cash flow forecast, and liabilities.”

The final essential step for a start-up business preparing its business plan is to proof the document for grammar and typos, check for readability, and clarity,” Kay adds. “Then package your business plan in a folder or as spiral bound document for presentation.”

Source: Madison Niche Marketing

Do Something Remarkable: “These days, it’s not enough to do something,” Ines writes. “You have to do something that will change people’s lives, make it easier, solve a problem.

Don’t do something because the money is good — success, along with financial stability, will come along once you create and develop the best product and/or service.”

Figure Out The Best Business Model: “An idea is not enough anymore,” says Ines. “What business model would be best for your company? For Google, business was not the first thought on their mind. They wanted to improve search results and user experience.” Think about a business model that would best suit your needs, but don’t let the money be your ultimate guide, Ines advises.

Focus on Doing Good: “It’s important to do good things with your company,” Ines says. “Don’t build your success on other people’s misery. Help people, help your community. Help your customers. It will come back to you.”

Customers Always Come First: “Do you treat your customers with respect? Do you value their business? Google’s first job is to satisfy the user,” says Ines. “When someone types in a query in Google’s searchbox, in a split of a second they will be presented with hundreds, thousands, and millions of results relevant to their query. Google’s goal is always improving their search experience, bettering their results and serving only relevant content. If this goal was replaced with another one, their market share would decrease.”

Treat Employees With Respect: How do you treat your employees? Do you value their opinion? Is it important for you to keep them happy and productive? “Google is Fortune Magazine’s #1 Best Place to Work,” notes Ines. “It’s because they treat their employees with respect, give them tools to grow and succeed. Your employees are your family.”

Source: SEO Rabbit

• Do they have an extensive and impressive portfolio?
• Is there a certain feel to all of the sites they have created, or are they flexible in their designs?
• Can any of their past clients be contacted to obtain references?
• Do they have structured planning and implementation processes?
• Are they available to start work soon?
• Do they do all of the work themselves, or do they outsource to others?
• Do they offer assistance in getting websites listed in the major search engines?
• Will a blog be included in addition to the main website?
• Who owns the intellectual property rights to the final website and the domain name?
• Is any post-design support offered?
• Is an hourly rate or fixed fee payment structure in place?
• How much payment needs to be made up front?
• Will they guarantee and stick to an agreed upon deadline?

“The answers to these questions should be used to narrow down the short list to three or so companies, who should then be asked to give a final quote,” says Walters. “If they are told beforehand that quotes are also being sought from their competitors, then their own quote will normally be more competitive. As a general ball park figure, a well designed 10-page website will cost an average of $2,000.”

Source: Internet Marketing

The pipeline overview is “absolutely effective,” says Rick Silva, director of UC Denver TTO. “We publish it for our licensing and business development folks, who use it to narrate ‘pipeline reviews’ with venture investors new to the Colorado scene, and to update the larger company business development folks at trade shows.” For example, Silva continues, “if we are meeting with a company we have not done business with before or [a prospect] who wants to get a better feel for what we do, we will conduct what we call a ‘pipeline review.’ We’ll sit down for an hour or so and walk through the overview. A brief description of the programs surround each piece of IP — what kind of patents have been done on the science, where our funds are coming from, and most important a needs assessment going forward — what additional funding will be required.”

“The pipeline overviews sometimes serve as an incentive by demonstrating the breadth of what have, and can help get people to commit to spend some time with us,” adds Lindsay Polak, marketing communications manager. “It’s a really good ‘door opener.’” A detailed article on the “pipeline overviews” appears in the January 2010 issue of Intellectual Property Marketing Advisor. To get access to this complete article and become a subscriber, including access to the entire archive of back issues, CLICK HERE.

1. Find new, smart people to follow. “Connections are essential for a productive Twitter experience, and that means connecting with the right people,” says Odden. Twitter polls, he says, should use a common hash tag (ex: #mypoll) that will tie the Questions and Answers together. “In doing so, the followers of your poll participants will be exposed to the Q&A and potentially participate,” he explains. “Others’ use of the common hashtag will reveal their replies, and you may find new and interesting people to follow.”
2. Collect great insights and tips from your followers. This is an obvious benefit for any poll, but asking the right questions can evoke some very useful tips and perspectives from your Twitter network that can be useful to you as well as the community at large, says Odden. “You can get tough questions answered that many others are searching for,” he explains.
3. Create an opportunity to engage with your Twitter network. “Connections are the Yin and Engagement is the Yang of social participation; they feed on each other,” says Odden. “Polls can create an engagement opportunity that allows your network to “show their stuff” on topics of interest, teaching you more about who you’re connected to and vice versa.”
4. Create an opportunity for your Twitter network to engage with each other. If you’ve successfully built a network or two or three on the social web, you know it’s not “all about you,” says Odden. Helping social network participants meet their needs, he notes, is a cornerstone of effective social networking. “Poll respondents and observers using the common Tweet poll hashtag will benefit from the same exposure to interesting insights and people as you will,” he says. “Successful polls with this objective quickly spawn discussions on various threads related to the original poll questions.”
5. Crowdsource blog, article, or conference presentation content that rewards participants. Asking questions on Twitter and then using the answers in a PowerPoint or blog post is an easy way to generate content, Odden notes, and doing so “in a way that recognizes those who contributed ideas via Twitter is even more powerful.” Let your network know you’ve used their feedback and list them as contributors in the PPT deck or article. Often times, they’ll tweet or re-tweet links back to the content — driving even more traffic and attention. “People will work for a living, but they’ll die for recognition,” Odden explains.
6. Identify potential candidates or consultants for hire or marketing partners based on their answers and interaction. It’s common to have casual connections with others on Twitter, notes Odden, and these casual connections may be people you don’t even know in real life. “Poll responses show insight from followers that helps me get to know them better — some of whom might be people that would be a great addition to our Social SEO Agency or who we can hire for certain projects,” he notes.
7. Build goodwill. Recognize certain Twitter contacts by dropping questions just for them to answer, and then acknowledge their answers, Odden advises. “This tactic isn’t for everyone, of course, and its effectiveness is based on real questions and real answers,” he cautions. “Manufactured interactions are most often weak and of little value. If there is a person you’d like to hire, get hired by, or connect with in some other way, building goodwill can reduce barriers and provide an opportunity for dialog.”
8. Attract new followers to yourself that notice the sudden use of a certain hashtag and the Q&A. “The polls on Twitter that I’ve run have not been particularly effective for growing a quantity of followers, but the quality (as in relevance of connection) has been very good,” notes Odden. “The hash tag takes the ‘conversation’ outside of the threaded discussion within your own Twitter network. It is essential, though, that the text used in the hash tag make sense towards the topic being discussed. Examples: #blogseo or #veganrecipes or #crmsoftware.”
9. Attract new followers to your Twitter network through the smarts of their participation. As previously noted, you can help your Twitter network benefit from interacting with each other through participation on Twitter polls. “When one of your connections answers a poll question, their response can catch the attention of other Twitter users following the hash tag,” says Odden. “This extension can lead to more followers for the members of your network that participate.”
10. Flush out survey questions on Twitter to see which questions to use, or what syntax to use in a more formal survey. “If you are in the business of conducting [market] research on a larger scale, sharing informal survey questions on Twitter can be a very useful litmus test for certain questions,” says Odden. “Content, syntax, relevance, and timeliness can all be tested so that the questions used in the formal survey are better suited for response.”

Source: Online Marketing Blog

1. How to incorporate a “stage gate” process into your innovation launch procedures.
2. What analytical tools you should be using when evaluating an innovation … and which ones to avoid.
3. How to “shrink wrap” your technologies for a quick and profitable transfer.
4. A step-by-step process for creating compelling technology offering memorandums.
5. How to avoid the five “deal killers” when negotiating your technology licenses.
6. How to use technology “dovetailing” to optimize the value of your IP.

This 90-minute audio program will bring you critical new insights into the corporate licencee’s decision-making process. For complete details and to register, CLICK HERE.

Also coming soon:

• Patent Prosecution: Best Practices for Reducing Costs While Improving Patent Quality - Tuesday, February 9, 2010
• Tech Transfer Marketing on a Shoestring: Guerilla Tactics in a Budget-Cut World - Tuesday, March 9, 2010

The first item on your agenda, says Eason, is to create a PR calendar for the year. Identify possible campaign themes (i.e., new technologies, internal marketing strategies). The next step is to obtain editorial calendars for the most important publications read by your target audiences, she continues. “These can usually be found on the advertising areas of publications’ websites. Make a note to send specific media pitches for these issues.” Your PR firm or internal marketing manager should also keep a database of all reporters and editors that cover your industry and area, Eason says. “Be sure to update it after each campaign, removing bad e-mail addresses and adding new contacts.”

Eason offers these additional PR pearls:

• Find out how reporters like to receive news releases and story ideas; most prefer e-mail. “Never add an attachment, as these may cause your e-mails to get caught in spam,” Eason warns.
• Editors appreciate excellent photos that complement your news releases and pitches. “Good art helps them visualize your story,” Eason notes.
• Does your website include a news section? If not, create a section with news releases, background information, and articles about your activities.
• Before you start promoting your stories to reporters and editors, contact them and offer to be a news source for interpreting industry trends; they are eager to learn about the latest developments, Eason explains. “They will appreciate your help — and will show their gratitude to you later,” she asserts.
• Offer advice columns on important topics. “Create a news release or article and send it to a well-researched media list of publications read by your customers and prospects,” Eason suggests.
• When news breaks in your area of expertise, sound off. “You can write a letter to the editor or make a comment in reaction to a newspaper or magazine article, comment on a blog, or call a local broadcast producer. Again — demonstrate your expertise,” says Eason.

Source: HotelWorld Network

The ideaLists site allows users to post an idea, its value, and any other relevant information. If a company or individual uses the idea in part or whole, appropriate compensation is encouraged. Compensation in this marketplace might take the form of a fee, a credit, or even providing the idea holder the budget to execute. Inversely, The ideaLists allow clients in need of good ideas –i.e., marketers in need of a unique promotion — to post needs with a budget attached. One example currently on the site: Incase is in need of a video to illustrate the company’s iPhone cases used in extreme situations.

Source: Design Taxi

• Go out there and just do it. Find strong mentors to emulate, and build yourself an advisory board (even an informal one) to help vet new ideas and plan your strategy.
• Talk to everyone and never be afraid to ask questions.
• Set clear goals and deadlines for yourself, and while perseverance is crucial, know when to cut your losses and move on.

Finally, the more [expletive] you throw on the wall, the more that has the potential to stick — even if that means getting a little dirty, so shoot the puck!

Source: Startup Professionals Musings

• Know the audience: “Research the target audience for the site,” Hiser advises. “Is it targeted at specific industries (e.g., pharmaceuticals), a particular geography, or a broad audience? Select your technologies and tailor your message based on the intended audience.”
• Keep it fresh: Nothing turns people off more than finding something interesting, only to be told it is not available anymore, says Hiser. “To avoid stale postings, keep a careful log of those technologies you have posted to each site and follow a regular schedule for updates, including removal of those that have been exclusively licensed or abandoned,” she recommends.
• Market it: Hiser suggests that rather than posting the patent abstracts, take the time to present a polished, market-based overview about each technology. “Describe the technology and outline the benefits and applications,” she says. “Provide a link to a web page with more details about the technology, such as images, drawings, patents, technical specifications, and demonstration videos. This will also help bring more traffic into your own website.”

Source: Fuentek Intellectual Property Marketing Blog

And don’t miss these upcoming events - click on the titles for more information:

• Successful Outsourcing for Tech Transfer Organizations - TOMORROW, January 6.
• “Shrink Wrap” Your University’s Technologies for Industry: Packaging Your Innovations to Minimize Corporate Risk and Extract Optimum Licensing Value - Wednesday, January 27
• Patent Prosecution: Best Practices for Reducing Costs While Improving Patent Quality - Tuesday, February 9, 2010

A few years ago, a couple of Mayo clinicians developed what is known as the Interactive Breath Control System. It’s an electronic visual guide for patients to help them know how they should control their breathing to make it optimal for surgeons to operate in the lungs and upper abdomen region. Mayo Clinic began selling the Breath-Hold device under the Mayo Clinic Medical Devices banner, but could never get enough traction, says Tim Anderson, president and CEO of Medspira. Anderson and his two partners convinced Mayo officials that while they excelled at dreaming up and developing medical products, they didn’t have the needed expertise to commercialize them. “They really aren’t a sales and marketing organization,” Anderson explains. “They are a hospital and a clinic.”

Source: Finance & Commerce

For one of those faculty members, Sandra J. Rosenthal, filling out a successful grant proposal is more art than science — and it is most definitely a marketing exercise. The chemistry professor leads an interdisciplinary team that has received $387,000 in funding from NIH to develop a new generation of fluorescent nanocrystal tags and find ways to attach them to the cell machinery that manipulates neurotransmitters. “It is a bit of a marketing job for the scientist and for the science,” she asserts. “If you can’t sell it in your project summary — if they’re not sold on the proposal in that space — it doesn’t matter what you do in the next 15 pages.” Rosenthal cautions, however, that “you have to market it scientifically; you can’t just say this is the greatest thing since sliced bread.” For the National Science Foundation, for example, “you need science that is intellectually interesting, and you need to explain why. Then, you need a broader impact statement so the reviewer see will see the science will have that broader impact.” A detailed article on successful grant marketing appears in the January 2010 issue of Intellectual Property Marketing Advisor. To get access to this complete article and become a subscriber, including access to the entire archive of back issues, CLICK HERE.

How can you make your videos stand out among the thousands flooding the web? Myers offers these four tips:

1. Share your video as a response. Browsing YouTube will bring you in ‘content contact’ with videos that have high viewership, Myers notes. “Look for other videos that connect in some way to your video; you can be creative with the association, but there should be a plain connection,” he advises. “Post the URL of your video as a Video Response to the high-traffic video in order to ‘coat-tail’ some of the popular video’s traffic and bring it to your own video.”
2. Choose specific keywords. Use Google’s Keyword Tool and feed it the URL of a competing video page, your own product page, or any other relevant web property you either own or know of, suggests Myers. “The tool will suggest keywords that you should use in your own video’s title and in your description copy,” he notes.
3. Watch competing videos. This activity might be called “benchmarking,” or “best practice research,” notes Myers. “Watch popular videos on various video sharing sites,” he suggests. “Examine their content, their description, and their titles. Think about your next video production and imagine ways to mirror what their popular video does. Then implement those ideas, and you will increase your chances of obtaining similarly high traffic.”
4. Find new video sharing sites and get in on their ground floor. Google owns YouTube but indexes the entire web, Myers notes. “Feed the video page with sufficient information and an appropriate title, and you can expect a search engine presence on the keywords you pick — assuming those keywords aren’t too competitive,” he says.

Source: Articlesbase

1. Write down what you want. Marketing agencies will go the extra mile for clients that are fair and know what they want, says Power. “Don’t expect your agency to fathom what you want from a sketchy brief,” he cautions. “This results in unclear ground, unchecked expectations and problems in your relationship.”
2. Review and dumb down what you want, so what you get is categorically what you want. “Nobody wants to spend time working on the wrong thing,” says Power.
3. Make yourself available. Don’t assume completing your brief is the end of your job as a client, says Power. “Good partners will have a ton of questions regardless of how thorough you think your brief is — and you should encourage it and answer them all,” he advises.
4. Hire someone with a track record. “If you can’t settle on one agency, select two but do the decent thing and give them both a paying gig so they have something to invest in,” says Power. “You’ll get better end deliverables.” Agencies, he notes, rightly despise pitches as a necessary evil that gives away time/resources and creative ideas with no guarantee of resulting business and no protection of their IP.
5. Be prepared to pay the going rate — or a rate relative to the service, resources, and value on offer.
6. Don’t make unreasonable ‘creatively stifling’ demands on your agency partner. “Remember why you are outsourcing this specialist requirement in the first place,” says Power.
7. Celebrate milestones throughout the course of the project and don’t just wait for the end result. “Doing this brings the team closer together and encourages everyone to work harder and smarter,” Power explains.
8. Manage the internal communication of what you are doing externally. “This ensures that everyone from your sales teams to the guys who answer the phones and make deliveries will understand who you are, what you stand for, and what you are trying to communicate,” Power says — adding that too many organizations fail at this critical task.
9. Support your agency with recommendations, testimonials, and referrals if they have done an excellent job. “All good agencies work on the maxim of only being as good as their last job, so this is very important to them,” Power comments.
10. Above all, be positive and enjoy what you’re creating.

Source: The Marketing Assassin

Intellectual Property Marketing Advisor,
Vol. 2, No. 12 (pp 133-144) December 2009

• Atypical licensing approach leads to rapid exposure of important health IP. How did IP developed at the Emory School of Medicine end up on a website sponsored by Microsoft? The key players say it was a combination of being in the right place at the right time, and taking a creative approach to licensing.
• Public/private initiative seeks to bridge the IP ‘Valley of Death.’ The BioAccelerate NYC Prize, billed in its announcement as “the first citywide competition targeting commercialization of the extensive biomedical research conducted at universities and research institutions in New York City,” has been launched by The New York City Investment Fund and the New York Economic Development Corporation.
• Communication course shows science students how to pitch their technology. IP marketers are made, not born. . . . At least that’s the concept behind a course in communication skills being given to students at the Johns Hopkins Institute for NanoBioTechnology.
• Internal marketing efforts pay off in disclosures for Louisiana Tech. Like most sales undertakings, the marketing of IP is a “numbers” game; the more technology you market (assuming you have vetted it properly), the greater your chances of success. The starting point for boosting those numbers is invention disclosures, and Richard Kordal, PhD, director of the Louisiana Tech Department of Intellectual Property & Commercialization, says he’s found several effective internal marketing strategies that have helped open the floodgates.
• UW-Madison alum tells would-be entrepreneurs how it’s done. Who better to tell future entrepreneurs how to sell their ideas and bring them to market than a serial entrepreneur who’s “been there, done that?”
• Universities building web-based network to link researchers. A consortium of universities has joined forces to create what is envisioned as a nationwide — and ultimately worldwide — network to link university researchers. Such a network, they believe, will enhance opportunities for collaboration, improve the chances of obtaining grants, and open up additional commercialization pathways.

Maintain a list of problems that are relevant to the research and technologies in the pipeline. “TTOs typically get involved in research commercialization efforts late in the research and testing process,” says Espey. “Get involved earlier in the process and start developing a list of problems to which the research can be applied.” Don’t just talk to the researchers, he adds; get business input from those who are not involved with the research or the research teams.

Develop long-term business relationships. Espey recommends you follow the old Chinese proverb, “Dig the well before you are thirsty.” Start developing business relationships with business leaders from a wide range of industries, he advises, and do this even before you have any applicable research or solutions for them. “These relationships will pay off in two ways,” Espey says. “You will have a better understanding of the types of challenges that these businesses face, and when you do have promising research technologies and solutions, you already have a relationship with the business or their contacts.”

Pair researchers with business mentors. “Researchers think like researchers; business people think like business people,” Espey notes. “Getting the two to communicate with each other versus talking to each other is a common technology transfer office challenge. Providing a business mentor to promising research leaders will help alleviate this common problem.”

Develop alternative commercialization strategies early. Good business people know that there is always a chance that their efforts may fail, and technology transfer professionals know this too. But “unfortunately, many researchers and inventors do not think about this, much less plan for it,” Espey notes. “Most inventors think that their invention is world changing and worth millions. They have visions of establishing a company based on their research or technology, selling it for millions, and retiring in the lap of luxury. The truth of the matter is that nine out of ten spinoffs and start-ups will fail. You, as the technology transfer officer, can improve these odds.” Espey notes that he sits on the advisory board for some startup-focused investment funds. “One of the strategies that we have developed recently is to go for the big distribution partnering deal with large companies,” he says. “When that doesn’t work, we find out why and have alternative proposals available. This alternative could be limited distribution agreements on licensing deals. It really doesn’t matter what the alternative is. What does matter is that you get to stay in the game and get a return on the sunk costs.”

Reduce risks for all involved. “In order to get more businesses interested in potential technology, look for new ways to reduce their potential risks,” Espey advises. “Right now cash is king. Instead of negotiating a lower royalty percentage, offer your potential licensor a deferred royalty agreement at a higher percentage. This is the business innovator’s version of ‘no interest payments for three years.’” This approach allows the business to conserve cash today and the university to reap more money in the long run, says Espey, and it’s better than the technology sitting on the shelf waiting to become obsolete.

Teach bootstrapping to your start-ups. Bootstrapping basically means to start and operate a business without much outside funding - but with plenty of plain old hard work using existing resources. It requires the entrepreneur to focus on sales and to hold fixed costs to an absolute minimum. “Bootstrapping requires a unique mindset that few lead researchers turned entrepreneurs can relate to,” he says. “It takes a special entrepreneur to be able to successfully bootstrap a business. Get some experienced bootstrappers on your advisory and consulting teams and pass the knowledge on to your start-ups.”

Partner with other TTOs. Unlike many organizations involved in the commercialization process, TTOs do not compete, says Espey. “Some technology transfer offices such as Stanford and MIT are the envy of their peers; however, most technology transfer offices do not reside in a geographic area that harbors entrepreneurship in its DNA,” he notes. Partnering with other TTOs offers many unique benefits that cannot be found through other means, Espey observes. “It opens up dialogue and support for represented research and technologies to new areas and new commercialization ideas,” he explains. “It develops relationships with other potential business partners and fosters potential research synergies.” Targeted TTO partnerships can lead to research combinations that together hold more commercialization potential, he adds. “This focused effort will, in the long run, yield a high degree of return on investment,” Espey asserts.

Source: Lowongan Kerjan Bank

Also coming soon:

• January 27, 2010: “Shrink Wrap” Your University’s Technologies for Industry: Packaging Your Innovations to Minimize Corporate Risk and Extract Optimum Licensing Value.
• February 9, 2010: Patent Prosecution: Best Practices for Reducing Costs While Improving Patent Quality
• March 9, 2010: Tech Transfer Marketing on a Shoestring: Guerilla Tactics in a Budget-Cut World

What are these centers like? A typical customer day at a 3M center begins with a team from a visiting company presenting an overview of their business to a group of 3M marketing and technology experts, who then pepper them with open-ended questions. The goal is to understand “what our customers are trying to accomplish, not what they say they need,” says John Horn, vice president for research and development at 3M’s industrial and transportation business.

Next is a visit to the “World of Innovation” showroom. The company has more than 40 of what it calls technology platforms — core technologies in areas like optical films, reflective materials, abrasives and adhesives — that can potentially be combined and applied to meet a range of needs in different markets. By exposing customers to these platforms, 3M hopes to prompt the type of novel connections — like using dental technology to improve car parts — that drive innovative solutions. “We never show completed products,” Horn says. “Doing that would constrain people’s thinking.”

Source: The New york Times

The rationale for the offering, Spiro continues, “is that scientists and engineers who are able to clearly explain what the relevance of their research is are more likely to form collaborations with other scientists, more likely to be understood by lawmakers who have the power to fund them, and will also have the ability to influence funding agencies for grants.” People who review grant proposals, she adds, may not specialize in the researcher’s field, making communication skills critical to getting the message across effectively. “What’s more, what if you’re making a presentation to a venture capital company?” she poses. “You want to be able to explain why your research is relevant; you do not want to get mired in the science.” A detailed article on Spiro’s marketing course appears in the December 2009 issue of Intellectual Property Marketing Advisor. To get access to this complete article and become a subscriber, including access to the entire archive of back issues, CLICK HERE.

The problem was underscored by the media platforms selected, Lefton continues. “Sure, there was TV and print, but anyone who travels by air knows the Woods/Accenture ads are ubiquitous in American airports and in many overseas air terminals; those will take months to swap out,” Lefton writes. “So integrated was Woods with Accenture that internal estimates put the cost of unwinding the association in the tens of millions, and it is a process that also will take months.”

Source: Street & Smith’s Sports Business Journal

• Write articles on a consistent basis. You should be writing articles — if not on a daily basis, then on a weekly basis, says Gruber. “These articles should be used for article submission; they should be on your blog, and they should be put into an auto-responder series,” he advises.
• Give away your best tips and advice. “Truly insightful information is a rare commodity, so if you reveal some of your best secrets that no one else is sharing, you will automatically become a thought leader,” says Gruber.
• Be motivated by generosity, not by self-interest. People are more likely to follow altruists - and they instinctively know the difference, says Gruber. “Don’t ruin your article marketing efforts by writing an amazing article — and then try to sell them in the bio box,” he warns. “Earn your prospect’s respect first by telling how you can help them.”
• Be different. If you are writing the same thing as everyone else and just using different words, how does this make you the expert? This fails to “build a foundation of expertise,” says Gruber. “Quantity your experience,” he advises. “Record what you currently know about your industry that others may not know; focus on uncommon expertise and wisdom.”
• Use proven article templates that will help you write articles and content that prove you are a thought leader. “For example, a case study template will help you write an article that shows prospects that you are the expert - and that you have gotten the desired results,” Gruber explains. (Gruber offers his own templates at http://www.TryMyFreeArticleTemplates.com.)
• Submit your article to the top websites, e-zines and blogs. “Submitting your articles to article directories like EzineArticles.com is good for building links and improving your search engine optimization, but it [does not help] you become a thought leader,” notes Gruber, “Anyone can get published on article directories (including kids) as long as you follow their editorial guidelines.” The key to success, he says, is to get your articles published on top, credible sites. Gruber says his articles appear, for example, on sites like MarketingProfs.com, About.com, and SiteProNews.com.
• Turn your articles into videos and submit them to the top video sites like YouTube and Viddler. “As a thought leader, you want to get your message out to as many people as possible in as many formats as possible,” says Gruber.

Source: PowerHomeBiz.com

Industry needs to communicate “precisely what innovations we require in order to stay competitive,” said Julie Shimer, CEO of Welch Allyn, a New York-based medical equipment manufacturer, and a member of the task force, at the press conference where the report was released. She added that industry needs to change the habit of waiting to see what researchers come up with, instead “challenging them to develop ideas that would help our strategic needs and plans.” The report calls this “flipping the model.” According to Nathan Tinker, executive director of the New York Biotechnology Association, cooperation between academia and the biotechnology industry is “a key to the growth of the industry and to the development of life saving strategies.”

Source: Before It’s News

And don’t miss these outstanding audioprograms coming in January:

• Successful Outsourcing for Tech Transfer Organizations, January 6, 2010
• “Shrink Wrap” Your University’s Technologies for Industry: Packaging Your Innovations to Minimize Corporate Risk and Extract Optimum Licensing Value, January 27, 2010

The ‘snowman’ is made of two tiny tin beads, normally used to calibrate electron microscope lenses, which were welded together with platinum. A focused ion beam was used to carve the snowman’s eyes and smile, and to deposit a tiny blob of platinum for the nose. The miniature figure is just 0.01 mm across, or about a fifth of the width of a human hair.

The clever video begins by focusing on some type on a page, and continues to zoom in until it takes you inside a single tiny character on the page, and then drills down further until eventually the ‘snowman’ is revealed. The video was more than just a cute trick. On CNN on Sunday morning, December 20th, after showing the video the reporters segued into a discussion of nanotechnology and how it would guide the future of medicine. Marketing mission accomplished.

Source: Telegraph

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

However, he adds, “when times are tough, ad agencies, which have huge fixed costs, will often pitch business that is out of their ‘sweet spot’ because they desire the revenues and want to keep their creative and backroom staffs busy. In an effort to acquire these ‘sub-prime’ accounts, agencies will often bring in their top people to pitch this marginal business.” When top talent working on high-visibility accounts tell the erstwhile client how much the agency wants their business, these smaller accounts can easily become over-impressed, says Berger. “The thought of this big-time Madison or Michigan Avenue agency wanting to work for them can be quite enticing, but before you fall madly in love, ask some crucial questions,” including:

• Are these wonderful people soliciting my business actually going to be working on my account?
• What are the specific deliverables I can expect from this agency?
• How important is my account going to be to this agency?

In the selection process, be sure you are introduced to the specific individuals who will be handling your account, says Berger. Make sure the chemistry is right, and that their backgrounds and experience mesh with your expectations. “Take a close look at other accounts this prospective account team is working on,” he advises. “If the account team, for example, is also working on a major high-profile, high-budget account, won’t that high-profile account take precedence over your needs?” The key, he concludes, “is to find a compatible agency that truly values your business.”

Source: The Wiglaf Journal

• Competitive Analysis Valuation (CAV) software provides a straightforward method for determining IP value. Created by nationally recognized IP law expert Ted Hagelin, the CAV Software yields clear and logical valuation results through a single program platform for negotiation, planning and reporting purposes. CLICK HERE for details.
• ktMINE provides hands-on access to an incredibly rich source of royalty rate data in more than 6,000 searchable full-text license agreements and detailed agreement summaries. This online, interactive IP database allows you to quickly find true market comparables and benchmarks. CLICK HERE for details.
• The US FDA Regulatory Calculator provides users with a potential FDA predicate, regulation product code, and the classification and regulatory pathway associated with a medical technology. With this tool, you’ll save hours in initial research and eliminate the need for outside experts early in the process - as well as minimize the potential for miscalculations with due diligence, technology assessment, planning, and commercialization. CLICK HERE for details.

• Determine ‘must-haves’: Marketing professionals need to customize the way they track their digital marketing campaigns, says the firm. “They should take a look at what kind of measuring tools they currently use,” and ask the following question: Are the goals set for a web reporting platform meeting the organization’s needs? “By creating a list of must-haves, it’ll be easier to narrow down what the needs are and how they can be fulfilled and by which products,” the firm explains.
• Add Tracking To Your E-mail Campaigns: You can add tracking parameters to your e-mail marketing activity so marketers can start tracking visits that are driven by e-mail efforts, as well as what those visitors do once in your web site, says Screen Pilot. “Setting up to measure conversions, from shopping carts or other areas of your site that are important to you, will enable you to see which e-mail campaigns have higher returns on investment (ROI) than others,” they say. “With this tip, you can now test scientifically based on the ROI and not solely on the click-through rates and engagement factors.”
• Are Your PPC Campaigns Set-Up Correctly? If you have potential customers click on your Pay-Per-Click (PPC) ads and immediately leave your site, your advertising money is wasted, says the digital marketing firm. “You could be missing opportunities if your web statistics aren’t giving you the whole picture about the visitors you get from paid search channels like Google, Yahoo! and Bing,” they say. “Reporting from search engines only goes halfway in educating you on how effective your PPC actually is. Set up your reporting to measure key performance indicators from paid channels. It can help you increase ROI and make intelligent decisions about how and where to spend your marketing dollars.”
• Don’t Rely on 3rd Party Reporting: It is all-too-common that the number of clicks the advertisers say you have is different than what you receive. “Countless times we are requested to create audit trails for costly marketing channels that report higher numbers of clicks from their networks than you actually receive,” Screen Pilot shares. “Using your web statistics platform correctly will tell you exactly what traffic you received from a specific campaign and the value of that traffic.”
• Track Calls from Campaigns: If you generate business offline, you need to track call volumes generated from each specific digital campaign, says Screen Pilot. “This will easily tell you how effective a campaign’s response is when people go online but don’t convert,” they explain. “Quickly learn what channels such as PPC, e-mail, banner ads and others create calls and which don’t. By adding this new dimension it might make you adjust some efforts for best returns.”

Source: Earth Times

Battelle Energy Alliance, Idaho National Laboratory (www.INL.gov), is involved with a major growth phase and we are currently looking for a talented Commercialization Manager supporting our Nuclear Science and Technology Directorate, contributing to the advancement of our mission in research science and national defense. With 3,500 world-class scientists, researchers and support staff, the laboratory works with national and international governments, universities and industry partners to discover new science and develop technologies that underpin the nation’s nuclear and renewable energy, national security and environmental missions.

The Commercialization Manager to maintain and establish strategic, long-term relationships with external customers and with INL management and technical teams in order to promote access to INL facilities, capabilities and intellectual property in a manner that benefits the American economy and competitiveness. Under the strategic direction of a Senior Commercialization Manager, manage assigned portfolio of deployable technology and intellectual property (IP) to advance INL’s Nuclear Science and Technology mission objectives, including:

• Securing, building strategic intellectual property (IP) assets and identifying the best use of IP and deployable technologies supporting lab-wide and nuclear mission strategies;
• Providing recommendations and valuations on potential IP;
• Defining and executing marketing strategies for the strategic portfolio of technologies and IP;
• Identifying, communicating and mitigating risks of technology transfer decisions for stakeholders/decision makers within the company;
• Managing the agreement life cycle, e.g., modifications, compliance, performance, termination, etc.;
• Understanding and ensuring compliance with policies, procedures, and regulations associated with IP and licenses and related contracts (including conflict of interest and fairness of opportunity);
• Oversee technology and IP deployment projects carried out by junior staff members; and
• Training INL professionals involved in Nuclear Science and Technology mission accomplishment in technology management and intellectual property aspects.
• Developing and carrying out nonfederal technology transfer strategies that support Nuclear Science and Technology mission strategies;
• Preparing for and representing the INL in negotiations in a manner consistent with INL’s mission objectives and policies;
• Understanding and complying with policies, procedures, and regulations related to Copyright Assertion, Cooperative Research and Development Agreements (CRADA), Work for Others (WFO) and other technology transfer contractual mechanisms used at the INL.

Qualifications:
Baccalaureate and seven (7) years relevant experience or advanced degree and five (5) years experience in relevant technical, legal and/or business field. Strong preference towards advanced degrees in technical/science/engineering, business, or law. Experience in commercialization of technology, including experience in contracting, technology transfer and/or intellectual property management highly desired.

Skills & Abilities:
The Commercialization Manager must:

• Understand and appreciate complex legal issues, understand technical issues, manage multiple tasks and projects under time constraints, and communicate and interface and interact effectively with relevant Laboratory personnel (technical and managerial) and multiple external customers.
• Represent the INL professionally during external negotiations.
• Possess a knowledge and ability to understand financial information and intellectual property valuation techniques, and be willing to assume responsibility for activities of considerable fiscal significance.
• Initiate tactical actions to accomplish strategic goals, work independently with limited oversight from the Senior Commercialization Manager.
• Engage cross-organizational and cross-disciplinary teams to accomplish technology deployment project goals.

Special Requirements:
Certified Licensing Professional status or willingness/ability to obtain certification preferred or equivalent training

Apply:
To be considered for this position, please apply on-line at www.inl.gov/careers to position #5153 prior to January 21, 2010.

Additional Information:
*The INL is located in Idaho Falls, Idaho (www.visitidahofalls.com)*
*Position requires relocation to Idaho Falls, Idaho - Full Relocation Package offered*
*Bachelors Degree is a minimum qualification in addition to the specific requirements*
*To view openings individually and apply go to: (www.inl.gov/careers/index.shtml)*
*To learn about the INL History and our strategic plan please go to: (www.inl.gov)*

The INL is located in Idaho Falls, ID (www.visitidahofalls.com). The area is in the heart of some of the most outstanding, outdoor recreation areas in the world. Access to Yellowstone and Grand Teton National Parks, Craters of the Moon National Monument, Sun Valley Idaho, scenic Shoshone Falls, Jackson Hole Wyoming, Salt Lake City Utah and areas of Nevada.

Equal Employment Opportunity
INL is an Equal Opportunity Employer M/F/D/V

Return to Job Listings

With this product, says TAEUS, licensing managers can enter, edit and characterize IP listings on their site, including adding images and attachments by using a series of easy-to-use forms. In addition, the system provides tracking and reporting tools. IPortalware sites are customized to match the existing look and feel of an entity’s existing web site. The new product is a complement to another new offering from TAEUS, its Global Patent Syndicate (GPS) system, which may be its most distinguishing characteristic from a marketing perspective. The GPS system allows users who post a technology to also have it automatically posted on other IP sites worldwide. “IPortalware is integrated with the Global Patent Syndicate (GPS), so customers can manage market offers on their local site, but also syndicate them globally,” Nutter explains. “The GPS will have the effect of unifying a single market for IP while still maintaining all the management of patents and other IP at the local level.”

According to TAEUS officials, IPortalware will soon add a ‘wizard’ that will help turn dry invention summaries into a marketing-focused format. It will prompt the inventor to add characterizations of their patent, describe the inspiration for the work, and supply other key information for prospects, and also link inventor workflow information back to the licensing manager, so he will know when the inventor has read documents, agreed to terms, etc.

Source: Your Story

Centralize IP agreement search and analysis. This data repository houses over 6,000 public documents and contains license agreements, services contracts, referral agreements, and more. Users can run unlimited searches and see unlimited results, including all royalty rates and full text agreements.

Refine your search to find true market comparables. Before an agreement is added to the database, ktMINE analysts review each using a 30+ checkpoint process. During the review process, analysts perform additional research to account for and identify any discrepancies or gaps within agreements. This consistent procedure ensures that all key licensing terms are accurately captured and categorized. Your ktMINE search will uncover the most relevant IP agreements without any “noise” or raw data to slow down or skew results.

Summarize key agreement details to quickly analyze results. View the context of full agreements immediately with in-depth summaries that list key licensing terms and agreement details. To further enhance your analysis, you’ll also find charts and tables that quickly reveal big picture context and trends for an entire set of agreements.

Access is made available through affordable 2-day and 5-day passes, which can be activated at the user’s convenience and include unlimited usage during that period. For complete details or to order, CLICK HERE.

David Brimm, President of BrimmComm, a public relations agency based in the Chicago area, offers these five tips for interacting with local reporters looking for the “big scoop”:

1. Appoint a spokesperson equipped with talking points. “It is important that at this point, a single manager is the spokesperson for the organization.” If the head of the organization is uncomfortable talking to reporters, another senior manager is fine, says Brimm. “He or she should be equipped with three talking points (i.e. what happened, what is being done, how long might the situation last),” he adds. Here’s another tip from Brimm: If it’s still early after the incident, it’s fine to say you’re gathering facts and will have information at ‘XYZ’ time. “This buys you a little time to get your information and talking points together,” he explains.
2. Make sure that you have the contact information for key personnel (finance, HR, etc.). “That means cell phone numbers, pagers, home phones, even vacation homes, so that they can be reached in an emergency,” says Brimm. “It is amazing how many crises occur after hours, on weekends or during holidays, so keep those numbers handy.”
3. If you are concerned about public relations strategies, bring in an outside PR consultant to take you through the crisis. “He or she can bring in an outside perspective and formulate a game plan,” Brimm explains. “A seasoned PR professional who’s handled crises in the past may save your organization a lot of embarrassment — and money — in the long run.”
4. In the event of death or injury at a lab or other place of business, management must quickly reach out to the local authorities. “This will send a message that you are controlling the situation and working with the proper people,” says Brimm. “Never publicly divulge the names of those hurt or killed until their families have been notified. Never speculate to the media about how the accident may have occurred; that’s the role of the police.” When the victims’ names have been released, he adds, always address the media with concern and compassion, with messages such as: “Our first thoughts go out to the family of our employee.”
5. Instruct your employees that only a single spokesperson is allowed to talk with reporters and all calls must be forwarded to that person. “Do not let your receptionist talk to reporters,” warns Brimm. “Never say ‘no comment,’ but do say you don’t know the answer to something and will get an answer as quickly as possible. In a void, reporters will fill in the unknowns with their own opinions.”

Most of all, Brimm, advises, don’t panic. “The key to addressing a crisis is to approach it with calm and forethought,” he says. “Think about your options and take the time to formulate a plan. Don’t jump into the fray until you’ve thought the response through.”

Source: Understanding Marketing

The $12.3 million National Center for Research Resources grant was awarded to the University of Florida and collaborators at Cornell University, Indiana University, Weill Cornell Medical College, Washington University at St. Louis, the Scripps Research Institute, and the Ponce School of Medicine in Puerto Rico. The grant covers a two-year period. The technological foundation of the network is provided by VIVO, open-source software developed at Cornell that allows people to search all publicly known information about a specific topic or researcher in a single site. So, for example, a search for the word “cancer” yields hundreds of results, but they are in turn broken up into categories like “people,” “opportunities,” and “topics.” Clicking on “topics” takes you to another set of subgroups that allows searchers to more quickly find exactly what they want.

Using VIVO, says Conlon, is “a perfect fit” with the NIH’s goal to establish a national network of scientists containing verifiable data. The new program will draw information about scientists from official, verifiable sources and make it available using a type of technology called the Semantic Web. “With a social network there’s no way to track the information down,” he notes. “But if the university says that so and so is a professor emeritus, that is verifiable.” For example, information about researchers’ positions will come from their employers; a listing of their published articles will come from the journals; while researchers will provide information regarding their interests themselves. Although users will still view the information on what looks like regular Web pages, VIVO actually collects the facts a person wants and assembles its own page. A detailed article on this new network appears in the December 2009 issue of Intellectual Property Marketing Advisor. For subscription information, CLICK HERE.

Not having a clear business plan. “The mantra here is focus, focus, focus,” advises McDemus. “If you try to become all things to all people, you will likely end up being nothing to nobody.” Investors, he says, back business plans that are clear and show some rational path to acceptable returns.

Failing to identify a market for your product/service. Having and developing a product or service is one thing, but finding someone to buy it is a whole different story, says McDemus. “Unfortunately, some entrepreneurs make the mistake of investing time and money into building the product or service before they’ve even considered who is going to buy it or how you are going to market and sell it to them,” he says. “Inventors that most often suffer from this mistake are the founders themselves, friends and family and, sometimes, angels. Very often it is the technical entrepreneur who may get caught up in this problem as their skill set tends to focus them on product capabilities and features, and maybe not sufficiently on the need for those capabilities or features by the potential customer.”

Not being able to re-invent as you go. McDemus cites as a positive example the movie Heartbreak Ridge, with Clint Eastwood starring as a gunnery sergeant in the U.S. Marine Corps. “Anytime his soldiers would run into an obstacle or an unexpected problem, he would tell them ‘improvise, adapt and overcome,’” says McDemus. “This is the perfect mantra for an early-stage start-up.” Even the “best laid” plans run aground, he notes, and you need to be able to turn the ship on a dime and possibly take a different route to address a problem.

Failing to build a sustainable business around intellectual property. “Intellectual property is only one leg of the stool; you need all of the legs if you want the stool to stand and not wobble or fall down,” says McDemus. “The only way to monetize intellectual property is to build a sustainable business around it. This is the gap that technology transfer offices at the university level try to overcome on a daily basis.” IP, he notes, is created as part of the academic or research and development process, and the university or professor desires to realize some value from that IP. “However, the university lacks the other legs to the stool and has to seek the private sector’s help to fill in the gaps,” he notes.

Source: VC Deal Lawyer

Also, join us on January 6 for Successful Outsourcing for Tech Transfer Organizations. Our expert faculty will focus on how to implement an effective outsourcing strategy to reduce your backlog of invention files, get more deals done, and boost faculty relations. A detailed case study of Texas Tech University’s outsourcing experience will provide valuable takeaways and lessons learned. CLICK HERE for full details.

Gara concedes that Dubai cannot compete with London or San Francisco when it comes to research universities, availability of venture capital, or an ecosystem of innovators, which he acknowledges are key ingredients for a city friendly to start-ups. “But,” he asserts. “It can compete and win in the race to attract entrepreneurs from across the world.”

Source: The National