Gearing Up to Talk Symbiotic Innovation at AUTM Eastern Region Meeting

Nannette Stangle-Castor

I am excited for my trip up to Baltimore, Maryland, in a couple weeks for the 2011 AUTM^® Eastern Region meeting. During the meeting, I will participate on a panel with Fuentek’s Laura Schoppe and Kevin Wozniak of the Office of Technology Licensing at Georgia Tech.

My topic? How Symbiotic Innovation can be used to form collaborative R&D partnerships that—in some situations—provide a better path to commercialization than the traditional start-up model.

Don’t get me wrong! Start-ups are vital to commercialization of university technologies. In many cases, start-ups are indeed the best path for taking embryonic innovations and getting them “ready for prime time.” However, start-ups are not always the best option. In some cases, for commercialization to happen a university technology needs further development, expensive equipment, business and industry expertise, funding, etc. beyond what can be provided easily and cost-effectively via the start-up model. In these cases, collaborative R&D partnerships are an additional, preferable option for getting the technology into the market.

So what’s the connection to Symbiotic Innovation? Collaborative R&D provides a means to advance technology development, moving it further along the commercialization pathway. At its most basic level, pursuing collaborative R&D is best achieved when you leverage your intellectual property (IP) portfolio in establishing those partnerships. In that sense, the proactive and concerted efforts of spin-in and spin-out that embody Symbiotic Innovation are at work.

But really, it’s so much more than that. And that’s what my talk will cover. I’ll be discussing how to achieve the comprehensive approach to IP management and collaborative R&D partnerships afforded by Symbiotic Innovation, using some real-world examples as case studies. I’ll also be sharing my Top 10 tips for forming partnerships so that you don’t go chasing every lead—just the best ones.

I also very much look forward to hearing Kevin’s discussion of translational research at Georgia Tech and his team’s holistic approach to working with industry. I think it will prove to be an interesting panel!

So if you’re going to Baltimore for the AUTM^® Eastern Region meeting, stop by Session 3A at 1:30 on Monday, May 23.

- By Nannette Stangle-Castor