What’s Hot in Tech Transfer

Laura A. Schoppe

Today is the 2-year birthday of the Fuentek blog! Looking back, we have seen some big issues in our industry. We’ve covered quite a few of them here, and a peek at our analytics suggests that there are, indeed, some hot topics.

Below is a list of the blog posts that were tops this past year.

Technology Screening: The Key First Step in Commercialization
Prioritizing the IP portfolio is perhaps the biggest task that tech transfer offices (TTOs) face. Doing it efficiently and effectively is essential. This post provided our advice for technology triage.

Ready-to-Sign Licensing Agreements: Does One Size Fit All?
The trend toward standardized licensing agreements has continued since UNC announced its Express License program in late 2009. And when used judiciously, these can be an excellent way to streamline the licensing process. But as this post explains, standard licensing agreements should be constructed carefully and not take the place of all licensing negotiations.

A Balanced Scorecard Template for Tech Transfer Offices
TTO performance—and how it’s measured—has been the topic of several posts on our blog during the past year (which you can easily access via the Insights on TTO metrics section of our Web site). This popular post outlines how TTOs can use the Kaplan–Norton Balanced Scorecard approach to track their organizational results.

Worth Noting: Excerpts from Tweet Chat with Henry Chesbrough
Summarizing a Twitter^®-based event hosted by 15inno’s Stefan Lindegaard, this post generated a lot of attention, including from Chesbrough himself. If you missed the live chat, read the Q&A on open innovation with Nannette Stangle-Castor’s commentary on how the concept relates to TTOs. (BTW, the Symbiotic Innovation category of our blog also has been a hot topic this past year.)

Practical Advice for Tech Transfer Web Sites
Although this post appeared before our blog’s last birthday, it still was tops this year. The post’s guidance for phasing in a new TTO site to keep the project manageable seemed to resonate with readers, who also frequently downloaded the free white paper How to Build an Effective Technology Transfer Web Site. (BTW, if you’re interested in this topic, you might also want to check out more recent posts regarding new TTO sites for NASA’s Dryden Flight Research Center and Georgia Tech.)

Do you have another favorite blog post? Or is there a topic you want us to weigh in on? Post a comment below or send us a private message via our Contact Us page. And thanks for tuning in!

--By Laura Schoppe