University technology transfer manual

Therefore, we can assume that technological innovation occurs when there are significant changes in products, goods and services, or when a new product is introduced in the national or international market.

Within this context, it is possible to understand changes in quality and productivity, while making the product or service somehow closer to the real market desire. Technological innovation can be defined as an idea transformed into a new or improved product that is marketable, and the technological innovation in process is related to a new process performed in the industry or even in sales.

It can be considered a transforming agent, guiding countries on economic progress and highlighting the role of universities and companies, which hold the scientific and techno-scientific knowledge.

The knowledge transferred by the university to the company is, consequently, widespread and incorporated into products and services that get into the market Frascati Manual, Oslo Manual introduces diffusion as the way in which innovations disseminate among consumers as well as businesses, markets, sectors and even countries.

Without diffusion, innovation cannot generate economic results. According to Carayol , without invention, there would not be innovation, and without innovation, there would not be diffusion, as they are interconnected. Rogers explained that diffusion is a theory composed by a set of generalizations or channels that propagate the innovation within social systems over the time.

There are some mechanisms that can assist technology diffusion, such as mass media; however, the diffusion theory highlights the importance of influential leaders. The difference between these mechanisms is that media can disseminate ideas to a greater number of people in a short time, whereas leaders have a direct and closer positioning facilitating the understanding of innovation and mainly generating greater confidence for persuasion Bray and Lee, ; Rogers et al.

To analyze the diffusion of a given innovation, some variables and the relationship among them are important. These variables are dimensions of innovation product, process, marketing and management innovation, which can be radical or incremental , characteristics of innovation producers researchers, independent inventors or professional and characteristics of potential customers people who may be interested in using the new technology Oslo Manual, Cribb , p.

Nonetheless, one cannot compare TT to buying and selling new tools, machines, plants, materials or methods, because it goes beyond this, mobilizing individuals and organizations Trajtenberg and Yitzhaki, ; Hanna et al.

Financially, TT that does not result in successful trading has little added value. To have success on technological knowledge transfer, there are some forms of efforts which can be made, through TT offices allocated in universities or even spin-off companies, which are kinds of businesses built within universities among researchers and students who, along with labor mobility, form the motivators of the advancement of knowledge trading and of the building capacity for the growth or evolution of a given geographical area or scientific and theoretical field of an institution Borges and Filion, ; Bozeman et al.

This may happen in the infrastructure of the institute or university, in the creation of internal policies that support such commercialization or even in the creation of accounting, legal and administrative advisory offices for new products or projects Chang et al.

This research studies two cases. According to Yin , studying more than one case validates the research and makes it more reliable; therefore, this is essential to have good results. For investigations of contemporary phenomena, case study is the most appropriate methodology, as opposed to how it was seen, as a methodology that was not strict and scientific enough Yin, As for the research classification, this is a descriptive study with a qualitative approach Denzin and Lincoln, According to Yin , in qualitative studies, it is recommended to work along with a small group of people, who should be chosen due to their mastery of the issue addressed.

Due to the cultural level of the respondents and their understanding of the subjects addressed, the data collection technique used was the semi-structured interview, so that the interviewees could speak freely about the subject.

In this case, the researcher only intervenes if necessary, to maintain the focus. In each of these institutions, our study sought to investigate three issues: how the university—industry interaction happens, how the TT process is developed and, finally, what means are used by both institutions to make it possible to understand the methodology used for TT between universities and companies.

Respondents were defined based on the technologies studied, one from each university. We interviewed those responsible for the transfer process: the inventor researcher , the TIC which is responsible for the transfer process and the company for which the technology was transferred the one responsible for negotiating with the TIC , hence adding up to six interviews.

Therefore, this research can be classified as descriptive, qualitative, based on the study of two cases, with data collected from semi-structured face-to-face interviews primary data source and institutional documents, such as reports and universities websites secondary data source. The analyses were performed through content analysis, by using the NVivo software, and document analysis Denzin and Lincoln, To receive this approval, we created a Free and Clarified Consent Term, presented to all participants of the survey, who signed it, thus confirming their participation in the research.

The following criteria were applied: both studied technologies should be considered technological innovations;. The interviews were conducted in-person, which means that the researchers went to the institution after previous appointment with the interviewees, and were recorded for later transcription and data analysis. After the two technologies were chosen, one for each university, a brief description of each one was elaborated, following information available in the TICs, through documents and data collected during the interviews and published in papers.

It is a company founded in at UNICAMP, which focuses on the development and manufacture of pharmaceutical, biotechnological and medical products. The founders of the spin-off were doctoral students at the time of its foundation. With a professor, researcher and mentor, they developed the product and created the spin-off so that the technology could be licensed and marketed.

The first studies about technology started in Consequently, there was a long period of studies and testing, and in , the idea of the product, a scar treatment for diabetic people, became real, leading to the first patent of the product.

Since then, tests have been performed, first on diabetic animals, in which a wound would take up to 15 days to heal. On non-diabetic rats, the same wound would heal in 9 days at most. With the help of the scar cream, the healing time on diabetic animals reached 9 days, like the healing period in non-diabetic rats Activity report — INOVA, b. In the current stage of studies and technology testing, partnerships with other companies will be necessary to overcome some stages until the product is ready to be launched to market.

In this context, the current contact network at the university is essential for the research to build partnerships, according to one of the co-owners of the spin-off. During the laboratory stage, tests were performed with blocks with 2. There were physical, mechanical and environmental characterization tests.

The test results showed that the addition of up to 5 per cent of the sludge in the ceramic material meets the standard requirements and also the testing conditions Reckziegel et al.

Industrial pilot tests were carried out with the addition of 2. These tests proved that the addition of PS to the blocks did not compromise the physical, mechanical or environmental properties of the product. Thus, the brickyard interested in producing the blocks with addition of PS as well as the company providing the raw material would have to meet these requirements.

Along with the blocks, a technical file with explanations on the production of the block is sent to the consumers of the product Reckziegel et al. The project was developed with the participation of the university, the company that produced the raw material and the recycling company. The results evidence the use of phosphate sludge recycling in the construction industry.

From this, both the company which generates the sludge and the recycler reduced their costs, one in the availability of its waste and the other in raw material, thus generating a co-product that could contribute to the preservation of non-renewable natural resources Reckziegel et al. The analysis and discussion of survey data will be presented with the help of NVivo software. Categorization Denzin and Lincoln, is based on the definition of entrepreneurial university by Etzkowitz and of technological diffusion by Rogers , as shown in Figure 1 , which was the basis for the analysis presented in sequence.

It is possible to notice the importance of the entrepreneurial university to the respondents, as all of them cited it in their interviews. By running the software tool called Text Search Query, we were able to find out that the expression was used times. Its frequency was higher in interviews of the TICs, followed by the companies and, finally, the researchers.

Another interesting fact is that the interviewed companies can notice the difference between traditional universities, totally focused on education, and entrepreneurial universities, as transcribed below:. Yes, it is possible to notice the difference between the traditional and the entrepreneurial one, as they perform together research projects, innovations, certifications.

However, for the interviewees, the community does not understand this difference so easily. People are quite amazed when they get to know that I developed, along with two companies, a product that is now on the market. They still believe that the university educates people, only that.

This culture is still not common. According to Etzkowitz , an entrepreneurial university should look for research conducted within the academia that could be considered technological potentials and be put into practice. This concept clearly shows the understanding that the respondents had on the issue.

For both respondents from TICs, the interaction with the company can start in different ways. These situations prove what is mentioned in the theory by Sankat et al. Later, the respondents were asked whether the university is prepared for this interaction.

Below we can see some extracts from the interviews:. Firstly, there must be a time adjustment. We cannot give the result to the company after four years; they cannot depend on a result of a dissertation or thesis.

We must reduce bureaucracy and be careful about the negotiation, because the amounts requested on the contracts are high and they often do not include the risk of investing in embryonic technology taken by small businesses Company linked to UNICAMP. Therefore, I see that those who develop research with companies are always on the market and have experience with what happens on the factory during manufacturing.

Students like professors who are in contact with companies, and through research with companies, I can be connected. We notice how valuable this is for students. This concern can be identified in one of the companies, when it comes to bureaucracy. Another comment from one of the companies interviewed was regarding the diffusion of patents that the university has.

According to the interviewee, the universities need to publicize their projects, so that companies are able to invest in the university-generated research. Regarding the opinion of the researchers interviewed, they were clear in emphasizing the importance of the TIC for their research with companies. Another important aspect observed during the interview with one of the TICs is related to university management.

The institution must decide whether to follow the path of an entrepreneurial university or not. Figure 2 displays a summary of the aspects mentioned during the interviews concerning the entrepreneurial university by all respondents, as per analysis. Based on Figure 2 , we can observe that several factors mentioned in the interviews are essential to characterize a university as entrepreneurial. The university management must support and encourage innovation culture, collaborative research, and entrepreneurship; assist the TIC in reducing bureaucracy; pay attention to the market; and develop technology-based research for the generation of companies.

These attitudes may lead to a regional impact due to the technology transfer to the productive sector. Besides, Figure 2 shows that these activities could not be isolated, as one depends on the other to be successful. If there is the culture of innovation in a university, but there is also bureaucracy, the regional impact of innovative actions may be compromised.

This logic is true to all the links represented in Figure 2 , as all of them support an entrepreneurial university. With that, the university embraced the cause, because they saw the potential in technology. Every semester we have lectures in the units that talk about what TIC is, what the role of the post-graduation student is, and this involves the entire TIC — the team involved in planning and organizing the content, IP team to deliver the lecture, in other words, everybody is involved for the cause.

According to her, as she was not aware of the patenting process, she eventually published her article, which presented data from the technology generated between the university and the company, before its registration with the INPI.

Because of that, they were not able to issue the patent, as the technology was already in the public domain. We do not have a patent for this specific product, because we published the article before. We did not know the importance of the patent before publishing and, then, we lost the patent. The only thing we have is the trademark registration of the created product with INPI. In such cases, the importance of a TIC in the university becomes evident, by mediating negotiations between researchers and companies and, especially, the level of professionalism demanded in these situations.

Protecting the technology created is the first step toward the generation of innovation, which should be carried out according to current legislation in the area in Brazil, Law no. After the interview, there was a question about how the TT process occurs in each of the universities. Through that, we could see that there is no established process or model used. The descriptions of the excerpts from the interviews that report these situations are presented below:.

This is something new for us. Everything will be about learning. We have some processes that are defined, but as we are practicing now, we do not exactly the steps. This policy governs all persons at the University, including full- and part-time faculty, visiting faculty, full-and part-time agents and employees staff , full- and part-time students both undergraduate and graduate , medical interns and residents, and fellows pre- and post-doctoral , whether or not they receive all or any part of their salary or other compensation from the University.

Intellectual property, as used in this policy, includes not only technology such as inventions, discoveries, creations, or authored works which may be protected legally, such as patents and copyrights, but also the physical or tangible embodiment of the technology, such as biological organisms, plant varieties, or computer software. The University requires everyone who has technical responsibilities to the University or who participates in an internally or externally sponsored research program at the University to execute an Intellectual Property Agreement IPA.

For non-student employees, the Human Resources Office will assist in this process at the time of hire. The completed forms should be forwarded to ORPA prior to the time that the individual begins work.

ORPA will provide neither institutional endorsement, nor sign proposals or awards for any individual named in an application for sponsored research if ORPA has not received a signed IPA from that individual.

Intellectual property subject to University ownership under the policies set forth below is to be disclosed to UR Ventures using the Invention Disclosure Form, or the on-line Invention Disclosure tool.

Disclosure to UR Ventures must be made before any other disclosure, presentation, display, performance, or publication of the work to any sizable audience; failure to do so may result in loss of rights and subsequent commercial potential. When intellectual property is developed under research sponsored by external sources including federal and state agencies , the research agreement typically provides the sponsor with certain rights to that material and may impose other duties, such as advance notice of publication.

UR Ventures should be consulted for assistance in understanding and complying with such terms. Persons who wish to pursue the development of their independently owned intellectual property may offer it to the University by disclosure to UR Ventures see Section 1.

The University will evaluate the commercial potential of the work disclosed and determine whether or not it will be accepted for licensing. Acceptance for licensing will require assignment of the property rights to the University. Persons covered by this policy see Section 1. To avoid conflicts with third parties over intellectual property rights, and potential loss of University and individual rights to intellectual property, all individuals covered by this policy see Section 1.

For example, individuals may not assign ownership of inventions created with significant use of University resources as defined in Section 2. The Office of Counsel is available to review agreements with outside entities for faculty, and to advise them about any changes that would be necessary to ensure the agreements are not inconsistent with University policies, and faculty are strongly encouraged to submit proposed agreements with outside entities to the Office of Counsel for such review.

In those limited situations where a company imposes strict confidentiality requirements on the terms of the agreement, they are encouraged to consult the Office of Counsel to determine whether potentially inconsistent portions can be shared without compromising such confidentiality.

Everyone at the University is asked to observe the rights of other owners of intellectual property. Computer programs written by hired programmers are a good example. In keeping with academic tradition, the University generally does not claim for itself copyrights in those books, articles, theses, papers, novels, poems, musical compositions, and similar works which are intended to disseminate the results of the academic research, scholarship, and artistic expression of its faculty, staff, and students.

Excepted from the general rule above are works which are produced with the significant use of University resources, are institutional works, or are subject to contractual obligations, such as a sponsored research agreement.

Ownership of such works vests in the University. University policy on the ownership of mask works is the same as for copyrightable works under Section 2. Ownership of a discovery of invention will vest in the University if it results from the significant use of University resources, is an institutional work, or arises out of an externally sponsored research project, consistent with the agreement s governing such research.

University policy on the ownership of computer software is the same as for copyrightable works under Section 2. In some instances, software can be patentable; in those cases, University policy concerning ownership of patents is applicable, see Section 2. If materials are published i. Prior to any publication the following notice should be placed on all materials in which the University owns the copyright:.

All rights reserved. To protect mask work rights, the following notice should be applied on all University-owned semi-conductor chip products which incorporate mask works:. No other institutional or departmental name is to be used in the notice, although the name and address of the department to which readers can direct inquiries may be listed below it. The date in the copyright notice should be the year in which the work is first published i. Additional rights and protection for copyrightable material and mask works require registration with the U.

Although patent rights can be lost if patent applications are not filed in a timely manner, the University will rarely delay publication to pursue intellectual property protection. Patent applications for University-owned discoveries and inventions are coordinated through UR Ventures, but patent-related legal expenses are the ultimate responsibility of the individual college. An Intellectual Property IP Pool which retains a percentage of all royalty income from technology licenses will subsidize these costs on a pro rata basis.

Additional rights and protection are afforded to trade and service marks if they are registered. Registration should be coordinated through UR Ventures. Or hire patent counsel on the fly? Chock-full of critical how-to information written by experienced attorneys, director-level technology transfer experts and well-regarded consultants, the TTP Manual is an invaluable resource for people of all experience levels — from beginners to seasoned professionals.

Looking for examples of policies or agreements? You can browse the material and download chapters anytime, anywhere. So next time you hire a new employee and need to get him or her trained fast or have a vexing challenge unique to academic technology transfer, take a look at the TTP Manual table of contents to find the solutions you need.

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