This course will run again in 2023

Best Practice in IP Commercialisation is a two-day course designed to give an overview of issues relating to the commercialisation of PFRO intellectual property in Australia. Course content is primarily aimed at new or recently recruited staff from technology commercialisation or contracts offices in universities, research institutions and CRCs, but will also be of interest to those in industry who work with academics or who are involved in the academic/industry interface.

Course content

Commercialisation offices advise on all aspects of patents, copyrights and contractual arrangements, and facilitate the commercial development of intellectual property by licence to spin out and established companies.

Success in a technology commercialisation role requires a breadth and depth of knowledge and skills rarely found in other areas of business:

• Confident and proactive research and networking to find potential opportunities
• Credibility in understanding, and assessing the technologies
• Creativity and pragmatism in applying these in a commercial setting
• The ability to draft, interpret and assess IP, research contracts and licensing agreements
• Efficient planning and development of commercialisation strategies
• The ability to understand the political and cultural differences between the academic and the private sector, and to operate effectively in each
• Negotiation and relationship building to bring all the stakeholders along to a successful outcome.

This course covers core content utilising a mix of presentation, discussion, group exercise and case study work to ensure that key learning can be applied on the job.

Content is designed to follow the process of a “best practice” licence agreement from conception to commercialisation:

• Researching and evaluating opportunities
• Market research and commercialisation
• Intellectual property protection
• Marketing the opportunity to potential partners
• Understanding the licensing agreement
• Negotiating the agreement
• Managing key stakeholder relationships.

Who should attend?

The Best Practice in Technology Commercialisation course is designed to assist those recently recruited into commercialisation offices (in academic organisations, and public sector research) to understand the breadth of the role, to assess their own development needs and to build or refresh the most fundamental skills and knowledge required for each part of the role. The course will improve delegates’ confidence and provide a framework of materials and contacts to refer to when challenges arise. The course will also be of interest to industry professionals who work at the interface with academia. It will be of most benefit to those who have already worked in technology transfer for at least three months.