The following is a list of the articles that appear in the August 2008 issue of Technology Transfer Tactics monthly newsletter. Subscribe now and get access to this issue as well as access to our online archive of back issues, industry research reports, sample MTAs, legal opinions, sample forms and contracts, government documents and more!

Technology Transfer Tactics,
Vol. 2, No. 8 (pp 113-128) August 2008

• Supreme Court decision on patent exhaustion worries TTOs. On June 9 the U.S. Supreme Court handed down yet another in a string of key patent rulings, sending ripples of concern through university technology transfer offices that are worried about the potential impact of the decision on their approach to licensing IP……… p. 113
• Economic impact study offers proof of tech transfer’s true value. As any tech transfer manager will attest, the economic value of a TTO’s research commercialization efforts extend far beyond the licensing income they generate. Proving it, however, is another thing altogether. Yet TTOs that can compile hard data on how their activities impact the regional economy stand to score important points with university administrators, grant organizations, private donors, and legislators……… p. 113
• Seven NYC institutions produce “combo” marketing brochure to promote their IP. Seven prominent New York City-based research institutions have completed a joint marketing project to tout their accomplishments and spread the word among potential licensees that, together, they represent “The source for biotechnology” in the metropolitan area……… p. 114
• Firm eschews “volume” approach to tech transfer, focuses on IP with highest potential. Taking the time up front to pinpoint which innovations in your IP portfolio are most likely to “hit” really big — and then devoting the lion’s share of commercialization resources to those select high-potential projects can dramatically increase your TTO’s annual licensing revenues……… p. 116
• Tip of the Month: In today’s investment market, proof-of-concept funding will likely have to come from within. Investors are far less willing to fund very early-stage research these days, and without proof-of-concept you might as well not ask. That’s why more TTOs are creating their own funding mechanisms……… p. 121
• CREATE Act compliance: Achieving safe harbor protection may be a moving target. Are your cooperative research agreements in compliance with the CREATE Act? The 2004 U.S. law spells out the legal means to protect your IP from losing its patentability through disclosure to research partners at outside institutions. But ensuring your research agreements fall within the Act’s safe harbor is not as simple as labeling all collaborations “joint research agreements”……… p. 122
• Key negotiating strategies can lead to win-win deals. Negotiating skills aren’t necessarily something you’re born with. But if not, in the tech transfer profession you’re going to need to develop and hone them……… p. 123
• UCF spins tech transfer success with revolutionary ceiling fan design. The technology transfer professionals at the U of Central Florida never could have predicted that a conversation one of its researchers had with his father-in-law about ceiling fans over a decade ago would result in a licensing agreement that’s bringing in over $100,000 in royalties each year……… p. 126

Posted August 4th, 2008 under Current Issue