Many universities, Public Sector Research Establishments and other public sector organisations, such as the NHS, are actively facing the challenge of capturing, protecting and commercialising the Intellectual Property (IP) generated by researchers. This challenge is driven by Government policy, the need to establish new sources of revenue, and enhancement of reputation with stakeholders.
So, how well equipped are research organisations to meet this challenge? In our experience, there is no shortage of ‘raw materials’. Research organisations generate a wealth of new ideas – after all, it is what research teams are, and should be, good at. In reality, the factors that drive commercial success relate to how effectively ideas are captured as IP, the relevance of ideas to commercial markets, and robust access routes into these markets.
Resources are invested to meet the challenges of: capturing ideas from busy researchers who often perceive conflicting objectives and targets; working out which ideas are worth pursuing; and funding the costs of patent applications. The outcomes don’t always repay the investment in commercial terms, although they may benefit broader factors such as student recruitment, local and national reputation, raising questions about whether these investments are optimised.
Our recent engagements with universities and other public sector organisations, ranging from portfolio evaluation to reviews of processes and outcomes, have highlighted some of the commercialisation challenges faced by research organisations.
General findings
Each individual organisation we have worked with has its own issues and challenges, but there are common threads in our experience. Perhaps the most significant general finding is that the IP portfolios of many research organisations in academic and PSRE sectors are typically a scatter of unrelated single patents, with little clustering of patents around particular technologies.
A single patent on its own is seldom worth much and may be less that the cost of maintaining it; a strongly interlinked cluster of patents around an idea, covering its implementation and a range of applications is more likely to be commercially valuable. Building a cluster requires investment in development resources, commitment from the researchers and funding for patent applications. The scattered nature of portfolios is not surprising given the limitations of research funding and the conflicting demands on researchers’ time.
Working more closely with industry brings research closer to commercial relevance, but relationships are often at an operational/project level rather than a strategic level. This also calls for careful negotiation of ownership of and access to IP rights to establish an acceptable risk/reward balance. It also means knowing when to say ‘no’, where a deal is too one-sided.
Trying to commercialise a wide range of unrelated opportunities is a tough call. It is often better to focus more resources on a selected narrow range of opportunities for serious commercial success and to raise the game to a higher level. To do this well requires insight into the relevant market areas, clarity on IP owned by other parties and an understanding of the competitive strength of a portfolio in that technology sector.
IP is not just about Patents
Patents are important in the commercialisation of research, but more attention needs to be paid to other forms of IP. Research services, based on know-how (sometimes linked with specialist facilities) are often a more significant contributor to the revenues of research organisations. Effective packaging and branding of services, together with clarity on where value is added and how much it is worth, can bring commercialisation to life, transform revenue generation potential and improve competitive strength.
Improving performance
So, what makes for greater success in this sector? The answer is a demanding combination of:
In turn, this calls for more proactive and enlightened funding for IP development and support at the early stages, something government needs to build into its research funding structures if it is serious about commercialisation.
CIPM helps research organisations to get to grips with where the value sits in their existing portfolios of Intellectual Capital (IC); where there is commercial potential to file new IP; who else is playing in that part of the ‘IP Landscape’, how to leverage their IC, package and take IP to market and how to manage the IP risks and opportunities along the way.
CIPM also brings complementary experience from the other side of the table, working with VCs and other investors to review and evaluate opportunities for and risks in technology investment. We know what sparks the interest of potential buyers and investors. The combination of these insights into the supply- and demand-side of IP commercialisation makes CIPM an advisor of choice for both researchers and investors.
October 2008
