University Spin-off Formations: How decision making process has been made?
Commercialisation of intellectual property (IP), particularly patent becomes an important agenda in most universities. Patents that were licensed to established companies in return for royalties recognised as a traditional mode to commercialise university IPs. As government funding are getting har...
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| Main Authors: | , , |
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| Format: | Conference or Workshop Item |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
2008
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| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | http://eprints.utem.edu.my/id/eprint/12368/1/how_decision_making.pdf http://eprints.utem.edu.my/id/eprint/12368/ |
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| Summary: | Commercialisation of intellectual property (IP), particularly patent becomes an important agenda in most
universities. Patents that were licensed to established companies in return for royalties recognised as a traditional
mode to commercialise university IPs. As government funding are getting harder to obtain, and demand from the
stake holders to see universities play more important role in local economic development, universities are prompts
to look at spin-off formations as an alternative route for technology commercialisation. This paper is trying to
look into the process of decision making in commercialisation of university patents through spin-off formation.
A single case of one university in Scotland is adopted in this study. Six patents from university portfolio’s patents
were selected, which were licensed to spin-off companies. Companies that licensed know-how or IPs other than
patents were excluded. The inventors of these 6 patents were interviewed in depth using semi-structured
questionnaires, which were recorded and later transcribed. The data were then analysed using a case basis and
cross-case analysis aided with Nvivo software.
The study found that the decision making to seek patents protection was made by the inventors, and the
Technology Transfer Office (TTO). On the other hand, the decision to commercialise the patents through the spinoffs
creation were initiated by the inventors alone, not by the TTO. The study also revealed that the stage or
performance of the technologies and the entrepreneurial characteristics of the inventors lead their patents were
commercialised through spin-offs. Inventors industrial working experiences prior to their research positions in the
University, were able to recognise the potential values of their technologies. This factor was found to be the most
significant that drove them to form spin-offs. Their experiences meant they had better knowledge about potential
market, market size as well as the standing of their technologies in the market place. Other important factors were
the role and supports of Technology Transfer Office as well as the availability of funding. The result of this study
could help policy makers in universities to consider: what are the characteristics of the inventions and the
inventors, the availability of funding as well as the roles of technology transfer offices in their decision-making to
spin-offs. |
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