Marketing Intellectual Property is an Iterative Process

There is no one single recipe to market a diverse portfolio of technology-based intellectual property. Defining and institutionalizing an agile marketing process is important for delivering consistent, high-quality results from your technology transfer efforts. I recommend designing, developing and deploying an iterative marketing process that includes updating the marketing strategy on a regular basis with the feedback you receive from potential licensees. This includes frequent checkpoints to validate your assumptions, pausing to reflect on the market feedback you receive, and adjusting your plans and marketing materials accordingly.

A key overarching factor to incorporate into your marketing plan is the projected return on investment (ROI) of your marketing resources (i.e., do not plan to invest more resources than your projected licensing revenue stream). Technology IP marketing requirements are different than traditional commercial product marketing plans. I recommend that you invest “just enough” resources until you are able to substantiate the commercial licensing interest for the technology and then respond accordingly with the next step or iteration of your plan. Throughout the process it is important to validate assumptions, and capture and factor relevant market data into your marketing plan and level of commitment. Do not hesitate to bring the plan to a halt if feedback and market factors indicate a negative change in the licensing potential of the target technology.

The marketing plan should not be considered an open-ended project with an unlimited budget. Your key stakeholders should be engaged in a review of the next steps after each major milestone or key iteration. I recommend identifying and scheduling periodic checkpoints with key stakeholders throughout the marketing project. These checkpoints should be used to:

• Reevaluate the marketing strategy and approach
• Determine if additional market research is required
• Reconsider target markets and prospective licensees
• Recalculate the anticipated ROI of the marketing plan
• Decide whether to continue or terminate the project

An iterative-based, agile marketing process with effective feedback loops should position you to identify and capitalize on high-quality prospective licensees from your marketing resource investments.

Best Practices for Marketing Intellectual Property

Fuentek has had many years of hands-on experience in generating scores of licenses and successful partnership agreements for clients, and has identified the following collection of “Best Practices” to effectively and efficiently market intellectual property.

1. Define, implement and institutionalize an agile marketing process as a guide for consistent quality results.
2. Secure inventor commitment and availability before initiating a marketing campaign—their involvement is crucial to success.
3. Prioritize your portfolio of technologies and allocate the appropriate level of resources by adhering to a proven filtering methodology.
4. Focus on ROI to ensure maximum return on your investment of your limited human and financial resources.
5. Employ the right promotional tools that are appropriate for the target technology and target audience.
6. Make use of your Web resources as a cost-effective marketing tool.
7. Qualify licensees effectively to ensure that you focus your limited resources on opportunities that have been property evaluated and scrutinized to position your team to achieve your licensing goals.
8. Utilize an IP management database system to proactively monitor and manage all of your marketing interactions and initiatives.
9. Engage IP marketing professionals with the right technical and business backgrounds to successfully commercialize technologies in your portfolio.
10. Embrace your “lessons learned” from all of your technology assessments and marketing activities.

Licenses and agreements for your technology portfolio are the direct result of a consistent and disciplined adherence to your technology assessment and marketing processes along with thoughtfully formulated promotional strategy and tactics. Adopting these 10 best practices will position your organization for success in achieving your technology marketing goals and objectives.

Operational Excellence for Tech Transfer Offices

Maintaining a continual focus on planning, prioritization, and execution of projects and tasks for your Technology Transfer Office is complex and requires effective integration of numerous interrelated operational processes to ensure that the allocation and engagement of your staff is optimized for your organization. In fact, as a leader and manager for your team, it is difficult to argue that this dimension is not your most critical responsibility. I offer the following leadership guidance to position your organization for consistent and optimal performance across your entire team.

1. Translate strategy into action plans. Leaders translate the vision, strategy, goals, and objectives into specific actions plans for each staff member to ensure the overall success of the organization.
2. Confront reality. Effective leaders are well grounded with a solid grasp of the real challenges and issues that your organization is facing and provide the requisite guidance to deal with adversity and opportunities directly while looking at each challenge and experience as a learning opportunity.
3. Set high expectations to fully leverage available resources throughout the organization. Leaders establish challenging, but realistic and attainable goals for each member within their organization that are synergistic with the overall goals and objectives of the enterprise.
4. Inspire the team to succeed. Leaders have an obligation and responsibility to motivate and inspire their subordinates to exceed the goals and expectations for their organization.
5. Delivering results with integrity. We have been continuously reminded during this past decade of the consequences that result from leaders who do not set an exemplary example of leading and delivering results with integrity. Leaders have an awesome responsibility to set and maintain an example in each and every action she or he takes.

Virtual teams are a SMART approach to running your organization

You can improve your enterprise’s Success by establishing and Managing a virtual team to enhance your organization’s Agility and increase staff Retention by leveraging modern, low-cost, ubiquitous Technology.

Increasingly more enterprise leaders are achieving greater success by establishing organization goals, objectives and performance metrics that empower their staff. Associates gain greater satisfaction through increased flexibility and productivity to get their job done while focusing more on results than office arrival and departure times. To achieve successful staff empowerment, leaders should establish clear goals, utilize proactive and consistent communications, and maintain trust between staff and management.

Over the past several years, technology that can support a virtual office has advanced considerably and this new technology aligns well with the current focus on enterprise environmental impact and our personal carbon footprint.

The following are just a few of the direct and indirect cost savings associated through empowering and managing virtual team:

• Reduced commuting environmental costs (fuel, CO2 emissions)
• Increased productive time due to reduced commuting time
• Lower conditioned space costs (lease, electric, gas, water, janitorial, waste & recycling
• removal, grounds keeping, insurance, etc.)
• Reduced infrastructure and office supply costs (computer servers, desktop/notebook computers, printers, phone systems, IT support resources, etc.)
• Improved productivity (fewer distractions and non-essential break room discussions)

Virtual environments have moved well beyond social media and digital gaming and into the workplace within many leading organizations.

Disciplined use of an IP management database enhances marketing efforts

I published an article in the Intellectual Property Marketing Advisor, November 2009 Issue on utilizing IP management database software for marketing Intellectual Property.

Best Practices for Marketing University and Federal Lab Technologies

Laura Schoppe, President of Fuentek, and I led an audioconference session on Best Practices for Marketing University and Federal Lab Technologies on September 29th. The session was well attended and we received positive feedback from the participants.

The IT Leadership Pyramid

After several years of conducting research and developing content on a part-time basis, I recently published the book, “The IT Leadership Pyramid – Essential Leadership Imperatives for Leaders of Information Technology Organizations in the 21st Century” based on my experiences working within and supporting Information Technology organizations over the past three decades. Copies of this books is available at stores.lulu.com/spaintechnovative.