2009, Georgia Institute of Technology Entrepreneurial Opportunities for Georgia Tech Students Stephen Fleming Chief Commercialization Officer <fleming@gatech.edu>
4/22/09 Technology Commercialization at Georgia Tech 2 Stephen Fleming 14+ years venture capital investment experience. General Partner, Alliance Technology Ventures. 18 investments as lead investor, 15 exits to date. BS, Physics, Ga. Tech (Highest Honors). 15 years operational experience at AT&T Bell Labs, Nortel, LICOM (venture-backed startup). Supervised startups developing first ADSL modem and one of the first cablemodems in early 1990s. Multiple advisory boards at Georgia Tech; endowed chair in telecomm; occasional instructor in MBA entrepreneurship program. Strong regional technology leader.
National Rankings U.S. News & World Report, America s Best Engineering Graduate Schools 2008 1. Massachusetts Institute of Technology 2. Stanford University 3. University of California Berkeley 4. Georgia Institute of Technology 5. University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign 6. California Institute of Technology (CalTech) 7. Carnegie Mellon University 8. University of Southern California (USC) 9. Cornell University tie University of Michigan Ann Arbor http://grad-schools.usnews.rankingsandreviews.com/grad/eng/search 4/22/09 Technology Commercialization at Georgia Tech 3
National Rankings U.S. News & World Report, America s Best Engineering Graduate Schools 2008 Strength across the board! Aerospace #4 Biomedical #2 Chemical #13 Industrial #1 17 years! Civil #6 Materials #8 Computer #7 Mechanical #7 Electrical #6 Nuclear #9 Environmental #6 Petro/Mining not offered 4/22/09 Technology Commercialization at Georgia Tech 4
GT Research Distribution Over half a billion dollars total R&D on campus for FY2009! Research Centers College of Computing Other College of Sciences College of Engineering GTRI 4/22/09 Technology Commercialization at Georgia Tech 5
4/22/09 Technology Commercialization at Georgia Tech 6 Patent Ranking U.S. Patent & Trademark Office, Calendar Year 2005 (last year available) # patents 1 390 University of California (system) 2 136 Massachusetts Institute of Technology 3 101 California Institute of Technology 4 90 Stanford University tie 90 University of Texas 5 77 University of Wisconsin 6 71 John Hopkins University tie 71 University of Michigan 7 64 University of Florida 8 57 Columbia University 9 43 Georgia Institute of Technology tie 43 University of Pennsylvania 10 41 Cornell University
4/22/09 Technology Commercialization at Georgia Tech 7 IP Mgmt./Evaluation Screens Export Control Invention Disclosures Need more information / development Industrial Contracts Technology Analysis Technology Evaluation Dept. Chairs / Deans / GTRI $ Protect IP? Rights to Faculty? Initiate IP Prot. $ External $ Counsel Patent Application Responsibility GTRC Market Analysis Market Evaluation EI2 / CS Path?...continued
4/22/09 Technology Commercialization at Georgia Tech 8 IP Business Development Standard Templates COI Review Georgia Research Alliance $ Startup / Spinout Path? Industrial License Consulting Rights to Faculty? Conflict of Interest Plan Business Plan VentureLab Tech. Marketing Marketing White Paper Rights to Faculty? Funding & CEO? Licensee? Rights to Faculty? Responsibility Term Sheet Negotiation Standard Templates GTRC EI2 / CS Compliance Review License Negotiation External Counsel...continued
4/22/09 Technology Commercialization at Georgia Tech 9 IP Licensing/Compliance Startup / Spinout License Negotiation Industrial License Responsibility GTRC EI2 / CS Startup Formed License ATDC or EmTech Bio Incubator? Successful Startup Industrial Partner Royalty Collection Monitoring Compliance / Litigation Patent Maint. & Defense Equity Royalties & etc. Inventor(s) Portfolio LIquidation Distribution of Payments $ Academic Department(s) GTRC
4/22/09 Technology Commercialization at Georgia Tech 10 IP Business Development Standard Templates COI Review Georgia Research Alliance $ Startup / Spinout Path? Industrial License Consulting Rights to Faculty? Conflict of Interest Plan Business Plan VentureLab Tech. Marketing Marketing White Paper Rights to Faculty? Funding & CEO? Licensee? Rights to Faculty? Responsibility Term Sheet Negotiation Standard Templates GTRC EI2 / CS Compliance Review License Negotiation External Counsel...continued
VentureLab Founded September 2001 Now a model for other universities Part of Enterprise Innovation Institute Reports up through Office of the Provost Faculty-focused process Risk identification and mitigation Venture-backable innovations Goal: Successful startup companies based on Georgia Tech research 4/22/09 Technology Commercialization at Georgia Tech 11
4/22/09 Technology Commercialization at Georgia Tech 12 VentureLab Market Milestones Meetings Management Money
MBA Students Paid and unpaid internships Assistance with market segmentation, competitive analysis, pricing, and other business planning tasks. Yes, some become founders! 4/22/09 Technology Commercialization at Georgia Tech 13
4/22/09 Technology Commercialization at Georgia Tech 14 Management
Dealing with Universities Teaching a professor how to be an entrepreneur is like teaching a cat to swim: It can be done. You will lose blood. You ll never be satisfied with the results. You will annoy the cat. Different motivations, different priorities, different views of proper procedure Best bet: Recruit an entrepreneur to work with the professor. 1+1=3. 4/22/09 Technology Commercialization at Georgia Tech 15
Money Assistance with smallbusiness grants from eleven Federal agencies. Grants and loans to startups based on Georgia university research. Equity investments in startups with a connection to Georgia Tech. 4/22/09 Technology Commercialization at Georgia Tech 16
4/22/09 Technology Commercialization at Georgia Tech 17 VentureLab Market Milestones Meetings Management Money
4/22/09 Technology Commercialization at Georgia Tech 18 VentureLab Projects (current) http://www.gtventurelab.com
4/22/09 Technology Commercialization at Georgia Tech 19 VentureLab Graduates Axotech April 2009
Who Owns Your IP? The Student Handbook states that any student enrolled at Georgia Tech is subject to the Institute s Intellectual Property Policy. If any intellectual property is conceived or developed by a student during the performance of their course work, title to the intellectual property resides with GTRC. Student inventors enjoy the same rights and benefits as do faculty and staff inventors. Including access to VentureLab!!! 9/17/2008 Commercialization of Student Projects 20
However... GTRC is in the business of complying with all relevant contractual obligations, state and Federal laws, tax regulations, export control agreements, etc., etc., etc... GTRC is not in the business of stifling student innovation. 9/17/2008 Commercialization of Student Projects 21
Section 50.6(D) The Fine Print In addition, ownership rights to Intellectual Property developed by GIT faculty, staff or students shall reside with the Creator of such Intellectual Property provided that: (1) there is no use, except in a purely incidental way, of GIT resources in the creation of such Intellectual Property (unless such resources are available without charge to the public); (2) the Intellectual Property is not prepared in accordance with the terms of GIT contract or grant; and (3) the Intellectual Property is not developed by faculty, staff or students as a specific institution assignment as discussed in 50.6 B above. The nature and extent of the use of GIT resources shall be subject to GIT regulations. When there are multiple Creators, some or all may have ownership rights subject to the tests described above, but the parties are encouraged to enter into a mutually signed written agreement to clarify their respective rights and responsibilities, in accordance with guidance in Section 50.8. 9/17/2008 Commercialization of Student Projects 22
9/17/2008 Commercialization of Student Projects 23 And Remember! Intellectual property is (usually) not: Designs Ideas Concepts Drawings Suggestions
9/17/2008 Commercialization of Student Projects 24 What Does That Mean? After disclosure, GTRC will apply multiple tests to your technology: Does the disclosure constitute protectable intellectual property? Was it based on sponsored research at GT? Was it supervised by a GT professor? How closely? Was the work conducted in GT laboratories? Does it rely on GT background IP? Are there co-inventors (inside or outside GT)? Have they signed an agreement? Are there other factors in play?
What to Expect GTRC will normally take about two weeks to review your disclosure. If none of the tests are triggered, your work may be deemed Individual Effort. A waiver letter will be prepared stating that GTRC assigns all intellectual property rights back to the individual inventor(s). 9/17/2008 Commercialization of Student Projects Klaus Advanced Computing Building 25
4/22/09 Technology Commercialization at Georgia Tech 26 For Further Information Stephen Fleming Chief Commercialization Officer Georgia Institute of Technology Personal blog: <http://www.academicvc.com> <fleming@gatech.edu> <http://innovate.gatech.edu/commercial/> Project database and staff blog: <http://www.gtventurelab.com> (404) 385-2360 Download this file at <http://www.gtventurelab.com>