The following is a list of the articles that appear in the September 2007 issue of Technology Transfer Tactics monthly newsletter.

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Technology Transfer Tactics,
Vol. 1, No. 5 (pp 65-80) September 2007

• Conflict of interest policies a growing challenge for TTOs. Managing conflicts of interest (COIs) between the academic research laboratory and the industrial marketplace has become a bugaboo for many tech transfer offices. Funding from nonprofit sources, especially federal and state governments, still represents the lion’s share of dollars for academic research, but industry sponsorship is growing. That growth brings increased influence from commercial entities, whether explicit or in subtler forms ………. p. 65
• U of Akron beats out larger schools in rate of return. Smaller institutions take note: You can outperform larger universities with the right strategies and proper implementation ………. p. 65
• Venture debt fills funding gaps for early stage university spin-offs. In the world of commercial financing, $200,000 or $300,000 may not seem like a very large sum of money, but for a university spin-off seeking to fill a gap of that size when angel funding has fallen short, it can be all the money in the world ………. p. 66
• Columbia Fellows program supports tech transfer efforts. A new student Fellows program created by Columbia University Science & Technology Ventures (STV) has yielded an array of benefits for the university’s TTO ………. p. 67
• Tip of the Month: Inexpensive ‘patent plaques’ make big impression on faculty ………. p. 69
• ‘Cyberpitch’ system offers new vehicle for tech transfer marketing. Picture this scenario: A potential investor or licensee receives an alert from ‘Scifin.net’ (not unlike a ‘Google Alert’) followed by a keyword — say, ‘Nanotechnology.’ A link, sent by a university TTO, directs the user to a WAP (wireless application protocol) site they can access from their PC, a web-enabled cell phone, or PDA. Once there, they can download a one minute video trailer or read or download additional information about new technologies ………. p. 69
• Conflict of Interest Toolkit offers help in policy development. One of the newest and most practical approaches to addressing conflicts of interest in technology transfer is contained in a comprehensive COI Toolkit unveiled in July by the Federation of American Societies for Experimental Biology ………. p. 70
• Quantifying the rate of return on research dollars. The University of Akron has the highest rate of return per research dollar leading to technologies commercialized by Ohio industry, according to the Ohio Board of Regents, which set up a three-component algorithm for making the awards under a statewide incentive program ………. p. 75
• Legal Q&A: Ensure strict compliance with export control regs ………. p. 79