University TTOs have a hard time...

Technology Transfer Offices have a difficult job. They need to screen a range of ideas and try and protect the best ones with suitable patents with decreasing budgets.

TTOs employ only a handful of staff who by necessity are generalists. However unreasonably, TTO managers are expected to understand in detail every technology they see on a daily basis. They are often unable to make a judgement about the commercial viability of a technology as they lack the detailed understanding of how the niche markets operate.

Often a 'quick and dirty' patent application is made prior to an academic divulging information in a paper or at a conference. These patents are often hurried and nearly always written without a clear understanding of the market the technology is entering, a critical omission in extracting maximum value from the IP.

IplusP have developed their Market Qualifications to enable TTOs to judge whether there is sufficient value to warrant a patent application. We believe that technology innovation can only succeed in the context of the market value. There is usually a degree of hype surrounding any new technology but this can obscure the real value; this value can only be found by correctly identifying the market opportunity.