The following is a list of the articles that appear in the October 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. 10 (pp 145-160) October 2008

• UGA case illustrates how poor faculty relations give rise to messy disputes. Imagine this: You have a promising invention that is virtually market-ready and a suitor who is eager to ink a deal, but your inventor seems hell-bent on trying to sabotage the agreement and is claiming it undervalues the technology. By most accounts, that is the situation that confronted the Athens, GA-based University of Georgia Research Foundation (UGAR) in 2003 ……… p. 147
• Stock market melts down and IPO drought drags on, but TTOs can still get venture backing. One telltale sign of the struggling U.S. economy — perhaps less visible than recent bailouts, failures, and stock swoons but no less remarkable — can be seen in the near-absolute dearth of companies going public. Initial public offerings (IPOs) are at an all-time low, according to the U.S. National Venture Capital Association (NVCA) ……… p. 147
• Internship program rescues TTO, yields ongoing rewards. Most TTOs view their interns as a helpful set of extra hands to help handle a busy workload. But for the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, an internship program that is now arguably the most vibrant in the country, has been more like a saving grace ……… p. 146
• “Inventor” files for patent on tech commercialization process, but novelty is in doubt. Nobody really expects Jan Buck to receive the patent he’s applied for. But nobody’s taking the application too lightly either — just in case ……… p. 148
• Tactics from the Field: The importance of an effective MTA database: A licensing perspective. Here’s why TTOs need an effective MTA docketing system ……… p. 155
• ‘Realignment’ is key to U of Utah’s stellar start-up performance. Being cited by AUTM as the second-ranked institution in the nation at starting companies based on university technology is impressive enough. But the achievement is even sweeter for the University of Utah, since it comes only three years after beginning a massive tech transfer overhaul ……… p. 156
• Seek extra protections with start-up licenses. When licensing to university start-ups, there are certain steps you should take when crafting your agreement “that you might not have to consider when dealing with an existing company,” says Steve Susalka, assistant director of the Office of Technology Asset Management at Wake Forest University Health Sciences. Here are the key areas Susalka recommends you cover in any start-up license ……… p. 157
• NDA only? Don’t let absence of provisional patent stall license negotiations. When it comes to signing an NDA with a potential licensee, there’s an ideal and then there’s a common reality. And if you only allow your technology out for review under ideal circumstances, you could be missing many licensing opportunities ……… p. 159

Posted October 8th, 2008 under Current Issue