IP: IDENTIFICATION --> VALUATION --> PROTECTION -->...
“To share an asset, usually it must first be divided. But knowledge is one of the few assets that multiplies as it is shared.” . . . . . Indian proverb
TECHNOLOGY TRANSFER (ie 'LICENSING')
A discipline that makes it possible to transfer technology from a proprietor (the licensor) to an interested purchaser (the licensee) in a well defined and effective manner.
Collaborative process whereby the products of R&D flow from a source to the (next) user.
CONTEXT
- Technology development time decreasing
- Knowledge moves quickly around the world
- Increase in industrial⁄academic espionage
- Technology development costs increasing
- Availability of R&D funds decreasing
- Competition for R&D funds increasing
- Growing importance of alliances
- Universities seeking additional avenues to fund R&D
- Corporations licensing in more
- Regulatory environment becoming more stringent
- Trade agreements: GATT, NAFTA
- New trading blocks: EC, E. Europe, N. America
- Move to patent harmonization