Technology transfer offices are a university’s intellectual property hub. The technology transfer office acts as the caretaker for the intellectual property (IP) generated by universities: protecting, licensing, selling, and litigating intellectual property. Given the high intellectual output and the professorial flair for free exchange of ideas, these offices are often overwhelmed by their duties.
In doing their job, one task is to help creative university people get started in protecting their IP. Having met with some of these people in the last year, I asked them, a la Family Feud, “What are the top 5 things you wish your university start-ups knew about intellectual property?” Being a child of the 70s, I picture Richard Dawson in a ruffled powder blue suit asking the question, but no matter what your pop culture reference, here were their responses:
