Courses
Hopes Creek offers a number of courses useful for both entrepreneurs and intellectual property managers. They range from a half-day to three day workshops. Courses are offered on a fixed-fee basis, so you can budget with ease. A large variety of subjects cover a breadth of material designed to improve your productivity in accomplishing your day-to-day objectives. Just take a look at the list of courses below!
Why Participate in University Technology Commercialization-The Numbers Game
This lecture will provide an overview of technology commercialization in a unique form. The theme of the lecture is designed to answer the question “why would I want to do the extra work necessary to participate in technology commercialization?” It analyzes the various motivations to engage the process. Additionally, it will establish realistic expectations, citing actual statistics of the technology transfer industry.
Intellectual Property Overview
Where the previous session discusses the laws associated with the commercialization process, this lecture will address statutory protection for intellectual property. It will provide a close look at the different types of intellectual property we will deal with in the course. These include patents, copyrights, trademarks, trade secrets and know-how. Specialty areas like mask works and software will be addressed.
The Process of Technology Commercialization
If we agree that university technology commercialization is worth investigating, we would need to learn more about the steps that were taken to make prudent business decisions at the university; after all, the university is not a business. This lecture reveals the intricate business process followed to assess and prepare intellectual property for licensing. The steps will be outlined and missions of universities compared to missions of companies.
Triage
Part of the process of technology commercialization needs more detailed analysis to fully understand. The step of technology assessment, often called Triage, is complicated. However, it is important in our risk assessment. This lecture will review the techniques used at a variety of institutes. It will compare the good and bad aspects of each. Finally, it will provide a recommendation for a process that can be useful in the business environment for technology assessment.
Management Strategies
A technology manager often has a large portfolio of inventions to manage. It can be overwhelming; there is so little time to push the technologies through the pipeline of activities. But, it doesn’t have to be this way. Proper use of management strategies can relieve the time crunch and create happier inventors.
Success Stories and Nightmares
In this lecture, we will learn of stories of success and failure. We will study the steps along the way to each so we may learn from other circumstances. We will look for traits of success. We will look for warning signs of failure. It will be a fun lecture filled with stories from behind the scenes of familiar products and businesses.
The Patent Application
Patenting can be cumbersome and expensive. This lecture will take a look at the costs of Russian and international patent protection. It will further reveal how decisions can be made to provide the maximum benefit to a company. Strategies for international protection that optimize cost will be covered.
Copyright, Trademark, Trade Secret and Know-How
Patents are not the only mechanism used to license intellectual property. This lecture will look at alternative methods of intellectual property protection; copyright, trademark and trade secret. It will also introduce know-how as a type of intellectual property and discuss its role in technology licensing. Examples of each will be included.
Anatomy of a License Agreement
This lecture will walk through a sample license agreement used for transferring technology rights from a university to a company. The grant of rights will be revealed. Ways to balance cost of the license and rights needed for commercialization will be examined. Development milestones will be addressed. Sharing of revenues will be studied, along with the term of the agreement, and such factors as liability and warranties.
University Startup Companies
In this lecture, we will discover the role a university startup can play in our quest to acquire university technology. We will look at the balance of risk versus reward. We will learn how startups are created, who runs them and what we can expect from them. Finally, we will discover how to use them to the benefit of your company.
Intellectual Property and Clustering
Acquiring intellectual property in similar subject matter can be an attractive option to a company that is pursuing global dominance in a field. Clustering or grouping patents can be used in several different business strategies. This lecture will explore various business strategies centered on clustering intellectual property.
Social & Economic Benefits of Technology Transfer
Technology transfer is not only about profits. There are many intangible benefits to the process as well. This lecture will review other advantages to community and public. We will explore how your company might also find benefit in pursuing some of these alternative mechanisms of technology transfer.
Wrap Up: Why Technology Commercialization?
We return now to a familiar question. Why should we engage in technology transfer activities from a university? In this lecture, we will revisit some of the reasons we first cited and now add the advantages and disadvantages learned through-out the course. We will conclude with prudent decision-making practices for determining whether or not your company would benefit from university technology commercialization.
Great Lectures for Entrepreneurs
Focus on Value Proposition (3 hours)
Technology often forms the basis of a competitive company. It is only natural to begin a company presentation with a discussion of the virtues of technology used by the company. But, that may not be what a customer or an investment partner wants to hear. This lecture explores methods of constructing a meaningful business description focused on value proposition. The value proposition forms the root for discussions of management and commercialization of intellectual property in subsequent lectures. An exercise emphasizes skills needed to understand the value proposition of various cases. [Exercise 30m listening to and critiquing business pitches in English]
Commercialization Strategies (3 hours)
So you have a technology to take to market. What is the best strategy? Should you start a company? Should you partner with a larger company? Or license the technology? This lecture is one of most popular lectures offered by Hopes Creek. It walks through the characteristics of what commercialization strategy to choose for various kinds of technologies.
Invention (2 hours)
This lecture provides a unique approach for introducing classroom participants to various forms of global intellectual property and how they can be used in business. It serves as a brief introduction to intellectual property. Patent laws for various countries are compared. The lecture includes a format for disclosing technology in a way that will benefit the intellectual property protection. The lecture also shows how the invention disclosure fits into the intellectual property management process.
Negotiation (and Business Culture of the West)
Learn about the U.S. businessperson’s expectations in a business setting. In this course, cultural sensitivities and anticipations will be discussed. Various key parameters can change the conditions met in the United States, such as whether you are dealing with a large or small company, whether you are on the East or West coast, and other contrasting situations. Classification of individual personalities in common negotiation strategies can help in understanding and responding appropriately to iterative negotiation. [Exercise: 30m]
Preparing Your Product: IP Strategy & Certification (2 hours)
Investors want to know what your intellectual property strategy is. How will you answer? They want to know you are obtaining proper certification for your product. How will you respond? Well, this course will teach you how to create an IP strategy for your product that will stand up in the United States. It will suggest ways to tackle the strict requirements for certification of your product. It offers several examples to lead the way to properly protecting your product in the marketplace.