Innovation International Americas Offers IP Owners Key Insights and Best Practices for IP Commercialization

(press release)

New York (September 4, 2008) – The road from invention to commercialization can be a difficult one to navigate. To help IP owners overcome the many challenges lining that path, experts from Innovation International Americas (IIA) have developed a set of best practices uniquely designed to meet the needs of inventors, technology transfer offices, and IP practitioners.  With offices in New York City and the Bay Area serving the global intellectual property community, IIA focuses on streamlining the exchanges between intellectual property owners and organizations seeking to commercialize their IP, enhance their IP portfolios, boost product development strategies, strengthen their position in the marketplace and maximize the return on their IP portfolio investment.

“Based upon our team’s collective expertise, numerous conversations with experts in the field and extensive research, we discovered that the individuals behind inventions are oftentimes ill-equipped to address the pragmatic concerns of potential licensees for their IP,” commented Douglas Adams, vice president of technology commercialization at IIA. “The real-world benefits of new technology can get lost in translation when a technically-savvy inventor attempts to communicate them to a product development or marketing executive, for instance.”

With that in mind, IIA executives offer clients three essential tips for the successful commercialization of IP:

1. Know the marketplace. Who are your competitors both market-wise and research-wise? So many times inventors have met their competitors but haven’t focused on licensing. Nurture those relationships.
2. Highlight the advantages. Inventors often take for granted the advantages of their invention, but they make all the difference in the world when they’re talking to the marketplace. You should also evaluate advantages that might exist for your IP in entirely different marketplaces.
3. Speak the right language. If you’re too technical in your pitch, you risk losing the interest of business development, licensing or technology transfer departments. Inventors and IP owners love to talk about their technology using scientific terms, but business people often don’t understand those terms. To complicate things even further, there may be a cultural or language gap. Find someone to bridge that gap. Outside companies like IIA can help translate your invention into market language.

About Innovation International Americas
Based in New York City and the Bay Area, Innovation International Americas (IIA) is a premier provider of IP commercialization services to companies and academic institutions. IIA offers a full suite of services to help customers maximize the value of their companies, generate and maintain revenue streams, as well as continue to foster innovation. IIA services include IP marketing, in/out licensing, IP valuation and IP assessment. For more information visit http://www.iiaip.com.