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Technology Transfer – Practical Implementation

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The Typical Day

One of the seductive qualities about working in technology transfer is that there really is no such thing as a "typical" day; every day brings something new. In the university or in an academic laboratory, you have nearly total control of your time: planning experiments, attending or giving lectures, taking or administering examinations. In technology transfer you never know who is going to call on the telephone, send an e-mail, show up in a meeting, or otherwise require your professional scientific, problem-solving, or interpersonal skills.

Because each of the project managers works on all aspects of their projects, a typical day in our office consists of very diverse activities. There are always telephone calls and e-mails that need a reply or a follow-up; there are always letters or memos to dictate, edit, or sign; there is always the project or two at the bottom of the pile that is screaming out for you to find time to access the Internet or other resources to find companies to whom you might market this technology; and there is always a self-renewing stack of professional scientific, legal, or business reading.

Some days, however, are not ordinary. One such example occurred when I returned from a 3-day conference. The high-intensity meeting involved extensive networking and interactions with potential commercial partners. I attended several exciting presentations and I returned home with a stack of business cards and a list of contacts that needed follow-up. During the meeting I kept up with my audix messages and e-mail, and all was comparatively quiet and unexciting at the office.



On the night that I returned home, I checked my e-mail to find that disaster had struck! When I arrived at the office the next morning, I found my mail box stuffed to the top and the situation presented by last night's e-mail yet to be resolved. The e-mail had informed me of a business meeting scheduled for the next week, when it would be impossible for me to attend. This particular meeting had come out of nowhere, which is frequently the rule rather than the exception.

In this case, the investigator was discussing a technology that was partly imported from another university. We had not completed negotiations with the second university, and therefore had not fully secured the rights to commercialize this technology. Furthermore, the technology had concomitant commercial third-party rights. This was a situation in which the investigator did not fully understand the business details of the situation and planned to sit down in a meeting with a company where there would be no representation from our office of technology transfer. These matters needed to be addressed quickly.

On top of this, I received sequential phone calls from yet another university, and from our legal department. These calls related to difficulties in negotiating a material transfer agreement with the second university. We had finally decided upon the Universal Biological Material Transfer Agreement, to which both institutions were signatory. This document had been forwarded to the inventor, but since the agreement was unfamiliar to him, he refused to sign it. How were we going to deal with this one?

Just to make the day even more exciting, on top of the stack of mail sitting on my desk I found a memo from an institutional committee stating that they were considering returning the rights for an invention to an investigator. The problem was that our office had not supplied the committee with the appropriate information that would allow them to fully evaluate the situation. A reply to this committee needed to be formulated and drafted immediately.

The good news about "hair on fire" days such as this is that they comprise only about 15% of all days. The bad news is that the 15% almost always seems to come in bunches, with several such days occurring sequentially. During this time, the mail box fills up, the e-mail screens overflow, and the audix system tells you that "your system is more than 70% full."

Skills for Success

Technology transfer depends on good communication with the investigator to understand the technology that is being disclosed; with the patent attorney to efficiently and effectively pursue the prosecution of the patent; with the industry representative to effectively present the merits of your technology; and with the company's licensing professional or attorney to negotiate a mutually acceptable agreement.

Technology transfer is really a sales job in a fancy dress-you are "selling" your services to the investigator, who needs to be a satisfied customer, and you are selling the technology to the external company, who needs to be happy with the product they buy. Part of the interaction with the investigator may also involve informing him or her why that individual's pet technology is not going to be licensed or patented. This can sometimes involve fancy footwork and very effective communication, since scientists frequently confuse good science with commercialize-able science. Because they are in the ivory tower, scientists usually don't understand the intricacies of the marketplace and the bottom-line-oriented biases of the companies. The technology transfer officer is more likely to have a happy inventor if the expectations of that inventor are appropriately managed.

Because so much of the job of technology transfer involves interactions with individuals, you should be a bit of an extrovert if you are to enjoy your job. Developing relationships with investigators and companies involves varying degrees of small talk, as business discussions and negotiations proceed most smoothly when there is a personal relationship among the individuals involved.

You will also find that at professional meetings or trade meetings, business proceeds most effectively through a well-developed network. Such networks are constructed through friendly telephone calls, discussions over cocktails, and small talk at a meeting booth. An individual who is very introverted or who is uncomfortable meeting and talking with strangers probably would not find this a job that was made in heaven.

The opportunities to travel abound in technology transfer. However, due to the modern means of communication, including overnight mail services, e-mail, and telephone and video conferences, a great deal of business can be conducted without travel if you prefer that. I have found that the percentage of time I spend traveling has increased tremendously as I have become more experienced. This is in large part because with experience come bigger deals and negotiations, and as the importance of the negotiations escalates so does the value of travel and participating in face-to-face meetings.

Traveling can be very stressful and each individual needs to develop travel strategies that are effective for him or her. Laptop computers and audix systems allow you to keep in touch with the office while you are away and they make life considerably less hectic when you return. Since business travel also requires hotel stays and frequent business dinners, your common sense and good judgment are brought into play regarding what are appropriate business expenses. Clearly you need to maintain professional standards and behavior while still entertaining a client. Such decisions come more easily to some people than to others and they can be very stressful if this is something with which you are not comfortable.
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