Markus Charles Group is pleased to assist Universities and Colleges with their intellectual property valuation needs.  Since U.S. Congress passed the Bayh-Dole Act in 1980, Universities have been able to commercialize publicly-funded research into licensing agreements and sales of intellectual property through private sector corporations.  This transfer is typically performed by university offices of technology transfer.  

 

In fact, in a survey conducted by the Association of University Technology Managers in 2010, university respondents indicated that 657 new commercial products were created, 4,284 licenses were executed, and 38,528 licenses and options were currently active.  These statistics understore the activity and importance of technology transfer in university settings, however deciding how to approach commercialization can be a tricky subject.

 

Often times, universities are faced with tough decisions such as:

 

1. Which technology do I commercialize first?

2. Which technology will bring the university the most value?

3. What is the amount of time it will take to bring this product to market?

4. Which companies already offer solutions to the problem my invention addresses?

5. What is the value of my technology?  

 

What makes the decision-process even more complicated is that most university inventions are nascent, or in other words, are at an early-stage of development. Unknown costs, regulatory hurdles, and market forces play a role in influencing value and dictating which inventions university technology offices should place their focus. Markus Charles Group has the experience and expertise to answer these difficult questions that impact value through the experience, research, and technical analysis performed by our team.

 

Markus Charles Group can assist universities in a variety of ways including determining appropriate royalty rates for licensing, patent valuation of single university patents or patent portfolios, assessment of the most valuable technologies, and more.  By offices of technology transfer commercializing or licensing-out their inventions, universities receive prestige, university inventors can receive a royalty fee, and the university itself can enjoy alternative streams of income for further research and development of emerging technologies.