INTELLECTUAL ASSETS MANAGEMENT - POSSIBILITIES AND DIFFICULTIES

Paper in proceeding, 2014

In the academic world, at least in Sweden, it is not obvious what the alternatives are when it comes to technology transfer and commercialization of research and innovations. In business it must be clear what your offer is and it is important that you own the rights to what you are offering but most important is that the ”buyer” can use, further develop or integrate what he has “bought” into his products. This is not always the case when it comes to research-results or intellectual assets. Sometimes the very same problems occur when it comes to research cooperation. In this presentation I will give examples of this problem and ways to overcome them. The latter includes; documentation of existing background, patenting, licensing, exclusivity, options, royalty, ”field of use” and establishment of new companies. My experience, and examples given, emanates from my time as manager at the Swedish Institute of Production Engineering Research - the department of Electronic Packaging and Production and as CEO and President of a research institute in Sweden within the area of; development of sensors based on micro- and nanotechnology. This institute was established by the Swedish government to enhance the Swedish system of technology transfer from universities to the industry. As adjunct professor at Chalmers University of Technology I also have gained a lot of experience.