For those who don’t know, our office is very active in AUTM (Association of University Technology Managers), the leading organization for technology transfer professionals. In an effort to enhance public awareness of the benefits of technology transfer, this past fall AUTM started the “Put A Face On It” project. Casting a wide net, AUTM offered seed funding to universities for the creation of videos that featured the people who have benefited from university-developed innovations. Their goal is to emphasize the real-world impact and real-world connections between technology transfer professionals, their work, and its ability to transform people’s lives. Here at OTT we have the same goal of sharing stories about the impact our innovations and discoveries can have and how our technologies help people around us, even our very own inventors. We are proud to unveil here our first “Put a Face On It” video. It focuses on the Emory Cardiac Toolbox and how it helped Dr. Ernest Garcia. Keep your eyes peeled for the twist! View this new video here. Find additional success stories on our website here. To view other AUTM “Put A Face On It” vidoes look here.
Continue readingAuthor: Linda Kesselring
What do Those Extra Letters Mean? Professional Designations in Technology Transfer
Many members of our team carry additional letters behind their names, most being readily recognizable such as Ph.D., J.D., or M.B.A.; but what do the others you see mean, such as CLP and RTTP? Like many professions, these are certifications and designations attained by those in the technology transfer and licensing fields that are conferred and administered by the professional societies our team members participate in, namely, the Licensing Executive Society and the Alliance of Technology Transfer Professionals. For our field, these designations signify that a technology transfer professional has met a certain level of proficiency and experience; for our organization these designations add an additional level of credibility with those whom we do business, both externally and internally. Certified Licensing Professional (CLP) – Administered by the Licensing Executives Society, CLP distinguishes professionals who have demonstrated their experience, knowledge, and skill in the fields of licensing and commercialization of intellectual property. More than 900 individuals worldwide that work in the areas of patenting, marketing, valuation, IP law, negotiation, and intellectual asset management have earned the CLP credential. Candidates for the CLP designation must have at least 3 years of licensing experience, have a Bachelor’s degree, and pass a proficiency exam.
Continue readingInventorship: Who is an Inventor?
Inventorship could be the million dollar question. In a university setting where collaboration is common place – who is an inventor? Most scholars understand “authorship,” but this concept shouldn’t be confused with “inventorship.” Being listed as an author on a journal article discussing the invention does not automatically make one an inventor on the patent itself. As a general rule, an inventor is one who has substantially contributed to the “conception” of an invention. Whereas, someone working at the direction of another, using routine skill without making a substantial conceptual contribution, is not considered to be an inventor under U. S. patent law. Credentials, such as degrees or titles, do not play a role in whether someone is an inventor on a particular patent. Disputes regarding inventorship often arise when a person with involvement in testing or construction of the invention believes they should be named as an inventor. Whether that person should be named as a joint inventor is not simply a courtesy or straightforward yes/no decision, it is a fact-intensive inquiry based on conceptual contributions of the person to the invention. Two real world examples illustrating these points are provided below. In the first one, highly reputable scientists
Continue readingInterns: Life After – Part 2
Our interns often move on to pursue careers in intellectual property law and technology transfer; some interns, like Sharon Ngwenya, do both. In this two part series, we caught up with Sharon to find out about her current career path and how a tech transfer internship has helped along the way. If you missed the first part of this series, click here where we learn about Sharon’s experience in IP law and tech transfer jobs. Today we turn our attention to her experiences as an OTT intern and what she has learned looking back. What skills did you gain as an intern do you feel were most valuable to your professional development/career? The most valuable skill that I gained as an intern was the ability to perform prior art and marketability searches. The criteria and mindset when performing these searches are different from the searches that I performed as a researcher because you are looking for information that could present problems during the prosecution of a patent application, not information that supports your hypothesis. If your search results support the hypothesis too closely, you may have found prior art that may necessitate killing the technology. What were your favorite and
Continue readingInterns: Life After – Part 1
Our interns often move on to pursue careers in intellectual property law and technology transfer; some interns, like Sharon Ngwenya, do both. Sharon Ngwenya was an intern in the office while she was a postdoctoral fellow in the Fellowship in Research and Science Teaching (FIRST) program. Before Emory, Sharon earned her doctorate from Texas A&M University and earned her bachelor’s in science in biochemistry from Oakwood College in Huntsville, AL. After completing her postdoctoral studies at Emory, Sharon joined the law firm Ballard & Spahr as a technology specialist of intellectual property. She later transitioned into technology transfer as a licensing associate at The University of Tennessee Research Foundation in Knoxville, TN. Currently, she is a senior licensing associate at The Methodist Hospital Research Institute in Houston, TX. In this two part series, we caught up with Sharon to find out about her current career path and how a tech transfer internship has helped along the way. How did you find your first job? I liked my first job at Ballard Spahr, an IP law firm. While IP law offices and tech transfer offices both have the goal of filing patent applications that result in issued patents, the day to
Continue readingWhat a Year it Has Been: Celebrating the 1st Anniversary of Our Blog!
Just about 12 months ago, our office launched this blog as a new initiative with the goal of sharing hot topics in tech transfer, opinion pieces, educational items, events, Emory initiatives, and intern experiences in an effort to promote Emory technologies and working with our office. Given that our industry has been under increasing scrutiny due to economic and political pressures, we viewed telling these stories as an increasingly important component to our overall success and the well-being of our industry. Our initial goal was to post once or twice a month, but we quickly found that there were so many things going on, so many great topics, that we could post weekly. It has been a great problem to have! We hope that you, our readers, have found our blog valuable as well, and we have appreciated all the kind words, constructive feedback, and sharing on social media. Over the next year we hope to maintain our weekly sharing, bring in more guest blogs/content, expand our range of topics, and punch up the visual appeal of the site. We will keep on sharing, if you keep reading! Looking back, we have published 45 posts, almost 40% of site traffic
Continue readingFrom the Director: Kauffman FastTrac Program
For two years now Emory has helped bring the Kauffman FastTrac® TechVenture™ program to Atlanta. During this 7 week program aspiring and current entrepreneurs learn about the nuts and bolts of running a business from other successful entrepreneurs. In this blog post we pick the brain of our Executive Director, Todd Sherer, on the importance of entrepreneurship, training our faculty, and why the program has been so successful. What was behind bringing this curriculum to Emory? There has been a lot of pressure during the global financial crisis for universities to do a better job of spinning out technology and creating not just companies, but jobs. We knew that in order to do this we would have to provide more formal training for faculty who are typically and traditionally trained to be research scientists, but don’t receive training to be an entrepreneur. We knew it was going to be critical to our success if we wanted to improve impact in the technology transfer space by providing more focused training around becoming a successful entrepreneur. What is your thought on the role of entrepreneurial training? I think the role of entrepreneurial training is critically important. Again, in a peer reviewed
Continue readingENTICe Moves Forward
Last year we announced the start of Emory’s ENTICe (Emory Neuromodulation and Technology Innovation Center) program in a blog with the goal to advance the understanding and effectiveness of neuromodulation therapies in order improve treatment of neurological and psychiatric disorders. Over the past few months, ENTICe has been moving forward with their program at a rapid clip and laying a solid foundation for innovation in the area of Parkinson’s disease treatments. In December of last year, ENTICe held their first Innovation Forum with both scientists and engineers from Emory and Georgia Tech in attendance. During the first forum, Drs. Mahlon Delong, Robert Gross, and Thomas Wichmann provided a general overview of Parkinson’s Disease pathology, symptoms, and current treatment options, including L-DOPA, anticholinergics, thalamotomy, and palidotomy. Two months later, in February of this year, ENTICe held its next Innovation Forum in conjunction with Georgia Tech’s sister program. At this forum, Dr. Robert Gross spoke more about strength and weakness in current therapeutic approaches as well as how deep brain stimulation (DBS) is currently used to treat Parkinson’s, neurostimulatory devices are implanted, and stimulation for those devices is programmed. The session was followed by an open discussion full of thought-provoking questions raised
Continue reading8th Annual Celebration of Technology & Innovation
Each year the Office of Technology Transfer (OTT) hosts a celebration to highlight the technology and innovation of Emory’s faculty. Last Thursday, March 6th was our 8th annual celebration and it was another successful event even with the rainy weather. After opening remarks from David Wynes, Vice President for Research Administration and David Stephens, Vice President for Research in the Health Sciences Center, the keynote speaker Christopher Yochim, Director, External Relations, Global Product and Portfolio Strategy, AstraZeneca, gave an interesting talk highlighting how industry can work with academia. Chris spoke in-depth about partnerships between pharma and academia. With declining revenue and R&D productivity, pharmaceutical companies need to add to their pipelines and increase awareness of innovative science. In addressing these needs they are increasingly turning to universities and academic medical centers to build strategic alliances and partnerships. Due to decreases in support from the federal government for research, these partnerships present new and interesting opportunities for academia. Chris talked about how aligning the interests of all parties involved had many challenges, but that they could be overcome. He emphasized that it often comes down to relationships and visibility from both scientists and the technology transfer office of the university. Pharma
Continue readingIn Focus: March is Neuroscience Month @ OTT
Did you know? More than 400 faculty members from over two dozen departments and centers across Emory University are working today in basic or clinical neuroscience! From our world-class faculty and cutting edge clinicians to advanced facilities and robust resources, Emory University is known for its strengths in the field of neuroscience. Neuroscience is such a key area for the university that supporting and growing neuroscience research actually forms its own integral part of Emory’s overall strategic plan. With this in mind, OTT will be highlighting Emory’s strength in the field throughout March here in our blog, on our website, and on social media. Be on the lookout for exciting new technologies, success stories, and other content that shine a spotlight on Emory’s role in the study of the brain and nervous system. For more information on the many aspects of Emory’s neuroscience programs, please click here: http://neurosciences.emory.edu/about/components.cfm
Continue readingWrapping up Emory’s Experience at AUTM’s 2014 Annual Meeting
We just flew in from the West coast, and boy are our brains tired! It’s a play on an old joke we know, but after the whirlwind of non-stop education, networking, and partnering at AUTM’s (the Association of University Technology Managers) Annual meeting in San Francisco, it pretty accurately describes our energy level. AUTM 2014 was a busy meeting for the OTT team as members volunteered, attended sessions, spoke, and participated in partnering sessions over the four day event. While recapping the entire experience is too much for a blog post, here is a rundown of the highlights and takeaways. Partnering: For the third year in a row, OTT made extensive use of the corporate partnering sessions offered by AUTM. Scheduled beforehand, these 30 minute one-on-one meetings with company representatives gave the OTT team members a chance to discuss particular Emory technologies, gather feedback and learn about each company’s areas of interest. As a whole the team participated in 23 partnering sessions, and the feedback gathered will be used to guide future marketing efforts. Sessions: OTT members had the opportunity to attend many educational sessions during AUTM 2014, covering a range of topics impacting our industry from funding to patent
Continue readingThe Making of a Video Tech Brief: Part 3 War Stories
Creating a technology video is a great way to promote a technology, particularly when “seeing” is more powerful than “reading.” In the previous two posts I discussed general and technical tips for a video project. (In case you missed it, click here & here to read the blog posts!) In the final part of this series, I will share a few “war stories” from my experience. Hopefully you will find these examples helpful when creating your own effective technology video. Anecdote 1: Working with Deceptively Noisy Locations During the planning stages for the Beast Surgery Support System video, I exchanged emails with the tech’s inventors and we agreed to film in an operating room at Emory Hospital. This location seemed like a great idea on paper, but once we began filming I quickly realized that there was a rather loud air-conditioning in the operating room as well as a hollow echo that would interfere with the audio. With nowhere else to go and limited time, we filmed demonstrations of the tech in the operating anyway. While reviewing the footage, I realized most of the audio was entirely unusable because of the background noise and echoes. I wasn’t the only one
Continue readingFrom the Director: Making Technology Transfer Stronger for the Future
As technology transfer professionals, we work closely with our faculty inventors to evaluate early stage technologies for commercial potential, determine the best protection strategy for intellectual property, and market our technologies through a variety of channels in hopes of finding a corporate partner. If we find an interested company, then we negotiate appropriate contractual partnerships to ensure that our inventors, our universities, and the taxpayer benefit from the ultimate products. After licenses are signed, we maintain relationships with the corporate partner throughout the life of the agreement, sometimes insisting upon the return of our technology should our partner decide to abandon its development. The passage of the Bayh-Dole Act boldly changed government patent policy, providing ownership and control of any invention made with federal funds to the very universities and small businesses that made them. Since its passage over 30 years ago, the Bayh-Dole Act has proven instrumental in recognizing federal patent policy as an integral part of U.S. competitiveness and is the envy of nearly every other country in the world as evidenced by similar legislation in a wide variety of countries including South Africa, India, China, Japan, South Korea and Taiwan. Its beauty is that it aligns ownership
Continue readingEmory OTT Attends the Annual JP Morgan Healthcare Conference
Last month from January 13-16, 2014, the JP Morgan 32nd Annual Healthcare Conference was held in San Francisco, California. For many years, Emory’s Office of Technology has attended; represented this year by Executive Director, Todd Sherer and Director, Kevin Lei. With approximately 300 companies presenting and over 4,000 investors present, the conference is one of the largest healthcare investment symposia in the industry. It brings together global industry leaders, emerging companies, innovators, technology transfer offices, and members of the investment community all in one place. “JP Morgan is an important meeting in our strategy to build relationships with the business community and showcase the University’s innovations,” said Sherer. Over the course of four days Sherer and Lei met with over a dozen venture firms to discuss some of Emory’s most exciting opportunities, which were AbbyMed, LLC: a company focused on a class of small molecules aimed at treating certain types of intractable cancers such as brain, liver, and melanoma. The company’s initial clinical target is glioblastoma multiforme (GBM). Accuitis, Inc.: a company focused on dermatological and ophthalmic pharmaceuticals targeting underserved indications. The company’s initial clinical target is rosacea. Cambium Medical Technologies, LLC: a company focused on the development of a
Continue readingThe Making of a Video Tech Brief: Part 2 Technical Tips
Creating a technology video is a great way to promote a technology, particularly when “seeing” is more powerful than “reading.” Last week I discussed general tips for a video project. (In case you missed it, click here to read the blog post!) In part 2 of this series, I will discuss the more technical side of creating video tech briefs. Hopefully you will find these pointers (many learned through personal trial and error!) to be helpful in creating your own effective technology video. Technical Tips This may be completely obvious to many, but before meeting, check the battery levels for all the equipment. Also, be sure there is an SD card in the camera or bag and that it has enough space. Bring spares! If possible, film and photograph the invention by itself. Record extra video of the location, inventors, and invention which can be very useful during post production. During filming, ask that the inventor(s) look at the camera lens, rather than you. Avoid looking directly at them while filming; this causes them to focus on you rather than the lens. The best way to achieve this is to place yourself directly next to the camera at eye level.
Continue readingThe Making of a Video Tech Brief: Part 1 Project Tips
Creating a technology video is a great way to promote a technology, particularly when “seeing” is more powerful than “reading.” In this three part series, I will discuss two sets of tips (general and technical) and lessons learned (many through personal trial and error!) that may be helpful in creating your own effective technology video. Project Tips Prepare 2-3 questions prior to your interview. Don’t forget a question about the tech transfer office and their contribution(s). Often, you will get much more than you need from just a few questions. Keep an eye on how “technical” or jargon-filled the language of the interviewee is – if necessary let them know they are speaking to a broader, more general audience. Be sure they talk about the technology’s benefits over existing technology/practices and about the future potential or development path of the technology. Scheduling can be a challenge as faculty and students are very busy people! Suggest a place where the technology can be used in a more visually interesting location. Conduct the interview in a quiet place where they can sit and speak; this practice will provide the best audio for voiceover as well as video clips for transitions. Don’t forget
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