The following is a list of the articles that appear in the August 2009 issue of Technology Transfer Tactics monthly newsletter. If you are already a current subscriber click here to log in and access your issue. Not a subscriber already? 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. 3, No. 8 (pp 113-128) August 2009

• Patent litigation: Sometimes it’s a risk worth taking. If there was any doubt about a jury’s willingness to take patent infringement seriously, the record $1.67 billion verdict returned against Abbott Laboratories in early June should go a long way toward erasing such concerns. Centocor Ortho Biotech, Inc. and co-plaintiff New York University argued that their patents covering antibodies against tumor necrosis had been infringed by Abbott’s blockbuster drug, Humira. A federal jury in Texas agreed, finding Abbott to be a willful infringer ……… p. 113
• Use proactive measures to prevent contentious IP disputes with researchers. Most tech transfer professionals have experienced at least some degree of contentious wrangling between their university and inventors over IP ownership, but thankfully pitched legal battles over IP remain the exception. Even in those cases, experts say, the events that lead to the courtroom steps are rife with missed opportunities to solve a dispute amicably ……… p. 113
• Rutgers creates its own exit strategy for spinoffs. Just because the economy has been stalled doesn’t mean the flow of innovation stops at universities. But with little funding available, Rutgers University has come up with a new, more proactive system designed to keep the wheels turning ……… p. 114
• For start-up survival, shift gears and focus on revenue. The small start-ups that university TTOs help build around their researchers’ innovations are often designed as, in essence, outsourced innovators for larger companies. As the small firms incubate, their officers and financial backers look for bigger firms to provide the deeper resources they need to reach their full commercial potential. It’s a good plan, says Lina Ramos, founder of and president at Emerging Growth Enterprise LLC, La Jolla, CA, but too often the incubators have to make their pitches with one hand figuratively tied behind their backs. Too few start-ups in that situation, she points out, have what potential buyers are demanding: real revenues ……… p. 115
• Service-based spinoff answers the demand for a unique skill set. Experts generally agree that it’s a bad idea for universities to maintain too large of a stake in any spin-off company, but a unique model at the New Mexico Institute of Mining and Technology in Albuquerque suggests that when circumstances are right, this type of configuration can pay off for both the university and the company ……… p. 124
• Another funding option: Create a portfolio of prize spinoffs and go public. If the old funding mechanisms aren’t working these days to finance your TTO’s best inventions and spin-offs, you might consider a completely different route. Take your organization public using an IPO featuring a cluster of your best start-up companies and most promising technologies ……… p. 126

Posted August 19th, 2009 under Current Issue