COMMERCIALIZATION PROCEDURES

INTRODUCTION

The dictionary definition of the word commercialization is1 ‘(a) : to manage on a

business basis for profit; or (b) : to develop commerce in.’ In the Industrial Age when land,

labour and capital served as the major assets for any organization, the implication was that

commercialization occurred when a new product was introduced into the market.

Introduction of a new product could mean that such a product had never existed earlier,

and this was the first time consumers became aware of such a product. An example would be

the introduction of a light bulb to consumers who were used to candles and lanterns.

Typically, this is the result of the development of a new technology. Alternately, a product

that was marketed in one region could be introduced into a new territory, and this may also be

referred to as commercialization. As an example, a drug that was successfully marketed in

Western Europe could be introduced into West Asia as part of an organization’s expansion

program, and this is also construed as commercialization. In this case, there is no

development of any new technology, and instead, a new market is developed for the product

in question. Further, a technology that was already known may be adapted to provide a new

product. This product may be known to consumers or may be completely new, but in either

case, the technology is familiar in general. One example of the adaptation of technology for

existing products is the use of technology of polarization of light to provide sunglasses

having the capability of blocking sunlight glare. An example of adaptation of technology for

developing new products is the knowledge of manipulation of electrical pulses and radio

waves to provide cordless telephones to a world that is aware of only corded telephones. In

all these instances, commercialization means the introduction of a product into the market for

the public’s consumption.

As can be seen, technology development and adaptation is a key aspect of

commercialization for any organization, except when the organization is only focussed on

bringing existing products into new markets. New technology development and adaptation of

existing technology involves very similar processes for bringing out a product, as will be

illustrated throughout this chapter. Hence, the phrase technology development will be used

to mean both new technology development and adaptation of an existing technology. Any

differences between technology development and technology adaptation will be appropriately

delineated.

Technology development is a long and expensive process, which ultimately culminates

in a product launch (this product launch is generally associated with commercialization in its

traditional definition.) Technology development can be broken into several intermediate

stages. For instance, Stevens and Burley2 provide at least 5 stages before a product launch,

following which, depending on a product’s performance in the market, it can be deemed a

commercial success or not. The five stages identified include: (1) Raw Ideas; (2) Ideas

Submitted, (3) Small Projects, (4) Major Developments, (5) Significant Developments and

(6) Product Launch. Alternately, Vijay K. Jolly provides five steps for commercialization :

(1) imagining, (2) incubating, (3) demonstrating, (4) promoting, and (5) sustaining3.

Similarly, European Space Agency (ESA) has broken down technology development

into various levels, each level being assigned a ‘Technology Readiness Level’ number, or a

TRL number. The definitions for each level is given here as an illustration4

ESA Technology Readiness Level SummaryTRL Level description

1 Basic principles observed and reported2 Technology concept and/or application formulated3 Analytical & experimental critical function and/or characteristic proof-of-concept4 Component and/or breadboard validation in laboratory environment5 Component and/or breadboard validation in relevant environment

6 System/subsystem model or prototype demonstration in a relevant environment (ground or space)

7 System prototype demonstration in a space environment

8 Actual system completed and "Flight qualified" through test and demonstration (ground or space)

9 Actual system "Flight proven" through successful mission operations

The United States National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA)5,

Department of Defense (DoD)6, and others have all published their own versions of the TRL.

Each one is very similar in their philosophy, and differ from each other in granularity, level

of detail or other such aspects. Based on these TRLs defined, methodologies and tools have

also been developed in its execution. Besides these, several organizations have developed

each one’s own variations in assessing the maturity of technology development.

Each of these levels involves acquiring knowledge about the systems being worked on,

which may include developing newer theories, modifying and adapting existing theories,

incorporating other disciplines into the main line of work and so on. All these activities are a

direct result of meticulous study, experimental results and arduous research. Throughout the

course of any development effort, multiple forms of intellectual property rights (IPR) will be

developed. Once developed, it becomes imperative to obtain adequate protection for these

IPR.

TECHNOLOGY DEVELOPMENT FOCUS

In the current economic scenario, the technology development cycles have shortened

considerably as compared to the scenario say about, forty years ago, due to various reasons

which will not be explained here. An organization’s ability to maintain or increase

profitability in the market in today’s environment is vested in its ability to be innovative in

the face of shortened turnaround development cycles, intense competition, regulatory and

compliance requirements and so on. Indeed, in many instances, the need to face these

challenges head on makes an organization innovative.

As mentioned earlier, the time and expense required to go through an entire sequence of

steps leading to a product launch is very long. This may not be affordable by most

organizations by themselves. Figure 1 shows the Innovation Swoosh™, which is a

generalized depiction of the amount of money involved in product development and profits

earned in an ideal situation. The time taken for the curve to move from expenditure to

earning profits, break-even points and being deemed a commercial success depends on

various factors, such as the technology domain, product lifecycle, the stage of technology

development during entry, and so on and so forth. This time line needs to be taken into

account while making business plans, and strategies need to be adopted to ensure survival

through this entire phase before realizing success. Government agencies and policy makers

also need to have funding schemes and policies that see businesses through this entire cycle

so as to foster successes.

Fig. 1. The Innovation Swoosh™. A generalized depiction of the amount of money and

time involved in product development and profits earned in an ideal situation

Given that typically, more than 90% of the firms in a country belong to the small-and-

medium-enterprises (SME) sector, most of the firms may not have the human resources and

other capabilities, besides time and money, to go through the entire sequence leading to a

product launch. In fact, most money will be spent at or near the product launch towards

advertising, sales promotion, and other marketing efforts3. Hence, especially this last stage of

product launch may not be feasible for a typical SME firm.

Thus, it becomes more feasible for firms to focus on technology development rather

than on marketing a product, and subsequently, transfer the technology to an organization

that has the capacity to launch and sell products to consumers. In fact, many organizations

show greater inclination towards focussing on only one or two stages of the technology

development steps, and subsequently hand over the technology to other firms having the

capability and/or specialization in the other required stages of technology development. For

example, it is not uncommon to find a specialized research organization to focus on coming

up with brand new technologies, and then merely visualizing end-uses for these technologies

and conceptualizing one or more products. Subsequently, these concepts on paper and in the

minds of the scientists and technologists may be taken to a firm whose specialization is in the

designing and prototyping products. Following this, an organization focussing on

manufacturing technologies may be brought into the picture to develop processes for

manufacturing the products envisioned.

Transfer of technology occurs by active marketing of technologies by the developers

and promoters. Technology transfers may also occur by those actively seeking technical

solutions for problems faced by them. The nature of technology development is such that the

application of a given technology may be varied. Often times, the technology developers are

focussed on one application of the technology ("tunnel vision") that other possible

applications become obscured to them. Further, the technology developers, while aware of

all the possible manifestations of the technology, may not be in a position to develop more

than one or two of the embodiments, and consequently they depend on partners for the

comprehensive manifestation of the technology, otherwise the technology’s full potential will

not be realized.

Transfer of technology can occur at any stage of the technology development scale. In

other words, anything ranging from a raw idea to a fully developed prototype can be

transferred to a partnering organization for a suitable remuneration. The expected value of

the remuneration depends on the stage of development. Qualitatively, it can be stated that the

greater the extent of development, the more the expected remuneration. The exact manner of

arriving at a more precise value is the subject of valuation and will be covered in a different

section.

To realize the full value from a technology development effort, the organization needs

to ensure that proper identification, definition and protection of the technology. Also, the

organization has to ensure full and clean ownership of the technology. The following section

will illustrate these concepts a little more.

INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY RIGHTS AND INTANGIBLE ASSETS

Any technology development will involve generation of a number of intellectual

property rights. For purposes of technology transfer that can realize the maximum potential,

these IPRs have to be clearly delineated and protected in the appropriate geographies. Any

technology developed can be categorized under one or more IPR, each of which is described

here very briefly. Figure 2 shows a creative visualization of the relationship between ideas

and the forms of IPR. For more details, the reader is referred to other books available in this

subject7. The nature and form of protection for one’s intellectual creation depends on the

situation, and the law in effect in that jurisdiction (or country).

Fig. 2 Creative visualization of the relationship between innovative ideas and the

different forms of intellectual property rights

Patents

Patents are granted for an invention that stems from an idea that is novel, non-obvious

and useful, and in many jurisdictions, must have industrial applicability. The idea presented

should be complete in that one skilled in the same field as that of the invention, must be able

to, upon reading the patent document, reproduce the invention as described.

Trademarks

Trademarks are distinctive signs used to denote goods or products. This is done in

order to establish uniqueness of a product supplied by one company over all of similar or

same products from other companies. Trademarks are usually a combination of one or more

words, letters, signs, symbols, drawings, colours, 3-dimensional signs, and even smells. A

trademarked good is generally represented as the “name of the product” followed by the sign

™ e.g. TEFLON™ or the sign ® e.g. XEROX®.

Trademarks are registered with the respective trademark registration office.

Registration of trademarks establishes assertion rights. The use of ™ does not automatically

invoke any legal protection, but it is a very simple way of informing others that the sign or

symbol or word, etc. is protected, and thus the inappropriate use of the same will be

construed as infringement or counterfeiting, or both. The ® symbol is used when the

trademark has been registered, while the ™ symbol may be used even before the registration.

Trademarks ensure that consumers can easily distinguish products, and enable

companies to differentiate their products. Trademarks are increasingly being used for

building brand image and reputation. Over the last couple of decades, the value of

trademarks as an asset, and valuating them has become an important feature of any business.

Service marks are similar to trademarks, except they are used to designate services

instead of products. Service marks are represented as “name of service” followed by the

symbol SM.

Collective marks are marks used to distinguish goods or services produced or provided

by members of an association. Collective marks are generally owned by an association or a

cooperative. These are used when a group of enterprises find it to be an effective way of

marketing their products than if each of them attempt to market their products as individual

marks.

Certification marks are used to distinguish goods or services that comply with a set of

standards and have been certified by a certifying authority. An important point to note here is

that the organization which provides these certification marks ought to be competent enough

to certify any products or services.

Well-known marks are marks that have been in use in one or more regions and are

considered to be well-known in those regions, as deemed by the competent authorities in the

regions. Well-known marks enjoy strong protection despite not being registered with the

appropriate authorities. However, establishing a symbol, sign, or word as a well-known mark

is very time-consuming and easily susceptible to stealing by competition while still in the

stage of being established. It is generally used for long-standing marks that have been in use

for a very long time.

Copyrights

Copyright is a form intellectual property protection available to all forms of expression

of ideas, procedures, methods of operation etc. It must be noted that copyright protection is

available only to AN EXPRESSION of ideas, but not the ideas themselves. This form of

protection extends to any form of expression, and includes, artistic, written, musical, movie

form and so on.

Copyrights are automatic rights, in that the protection is obtained by virtue of creation

by the copyright owner. Assertion rights are also automatically obtained, but getting the

creation of work registered or witnessed by a third party with a date stamp facilitates

assertion.

Software and algorithms are considered to be forms of expressions of ideas, and thus

are protected by copyrights. However, software is constantly used in many technical fields to

achieve various things. Thus, patenting of software has been debated, and the possibility has

been explored, and is allowed by some countries with some caveats. But software assisted

inventions are still hotly debated, and in many jurisdictions are not considered patentable.

Trade secrets

Trade secrets are information that is deliberately kept a secret from public so that the

secrecy invoked will provide an economic benefit or a competitive edge for the owner. To

prove that the information kept secret is indeed a trade secret, reasonable efforts must be

taken to keep it out of reaching public attention, and ways of achieving it may include

allowing access only to a select few, or locking it in a safe access to which is highly

restricted.

A key difference between trade secret and other forms of intellectual property rights is

that trade secret is the only one that is obtained by NOT disclosing the information to the

public, whereas all other forms of protection is obtained by necessarily disclosing it.

Industrial Designs

Industrial Designs are concerned with the aesthetic appearance of an article or a

product. Industrial Designs are also generally referred to as Designs. Designs are explicitly

not concerned with any technical and/or functional considerations, but only the appearance.

Appearance may include aesthetic or ornamental aspects of articles.

Appearance of article or a product may manifest itself in the form of a two-dimensional

feature, three-dimensional feature, shape of the product, surface finish of the product, patterns

and colours on the surface of the product, and so on.

Ornamental or aesthetic appearances, covered under Designs, are generally known to

increase visual appeal of a product. Designs are the first point of contact of any product with

the consumer, and the first point of attraction. Any technical features may be used to attract

the consumer at a later to buy a particular product over all the other existing similar products.

Hence, Designs constitute an important form of intellectual property.

Designs are generally used for articles or products of "manufacture" only, whereas any

a single work of art will fall under the Copyright umbrella. Any kind of products, including

products of handicraft manufacture, is susceptible to Designs, and this may include as

disparate situations such as watches, jewellery, automobiles, fans, lights, footwear, and so on.

Plant Varieties

With the strong emergence of biotechnology and other related fields such as genetic

engineering in the recent past, newer varieties of plants and animals are being produced.

These animals and plants are largely similar to the existing varieties of animals and plants,

but differ in some manner as compared to the original. Such "designer" living beings are

designed after considerable intellectual effort, followed by diligent efforts in a laboratory.

Hence, each jurisdiction needs to have adequate protection available to the person(s)

investing time and resources into this effort. Plant Varieties are covered under a separate IPR

system. Any new asexually reproduced new plant variety other than tuber propagated plant

or plants found in uncultivated state.

Semiconductor Integrated Circuits Layout Design

Semiconductors Integrated Circuits or ICs have become an integral component in our

everyday lives. They form part of every appliance that we use, which includes refrigerator,

washing machine, computer, television, stereo system, etc. Since its first inception in the

1950s, ICs have had a tremendous impact in the progress of mankind.

The key feature of an IC is the presence of multiple circuits on a thin substrate. The

substrate is typically made of a semiconductor material. ICs are very cheap to manufacture

as compared to manufacturing individual circuits, and also show improved performance.

The design of Semiconductor Integrated Circuit Layout is protectable under a Sui

Generis system. Typically, all ICs have a distinctive physical circuit layout in a large scale

drawing. This drawing is used for the later manufacturing processes that may include steps

of lithography, etching, coating, and others.

As any electronics engineer would attest, designing of ICs is an involved process that

has to address several issues. All the circuits being combined has to function individually

without being affected by the presence of the other. As is common in this field,

miniaturization and increasing capacity is the name of the game. However, this comes with a

price such as heating and difficulty in heat management, and current leakage. A typical chip

design has to address all the problems associated, and show improved performance over the

existing chips. This requires considerable intellectual effort, and hence the requirement of a

suitable form of IPR was recognized.

Under this form of IPR regime related to Semiconductor Integrated Circuit Layout

Design, any Integrated Circuit whose circuit layout is original, and the IC is for performing

an electronic circuitry function can be protected by the appropriate registration. The IC must

be inseparably formed on semiconductor or an insulator, and may also include layout of

transistors and other circuitry elements, such as lead wires.

Besides these forms of IPR, technical knowledge and know-how will also be vested

with those developing technology. Some or all of such know-how may not be conducive for

protection in the above listed forms of IPR. Despite its rather amorphous form (as opposed to

the more crystallized form of the various forms of IPR), such know-how and technical

knowledge may also add enormous value to an organization in the form of intangible assets.

One other concept that an organization needs to be fully aware of is Freedom-To-

Operate. This is especially valid in the case of patents. Any technical development that is

novel, inventive and industrially applicable can be protected by well-drafted patents.

However, a careful determination must be made whether the development was built on top of

an existing valid and enforceable patent or not. Thus, while a patent will be granted for this

new development, however, commercialization may be difficult as exploitation of this

technology depends on permissions for the underlying base patent as well. Hence, it is

important to conduct a comprehensive Freedom-To-Operate analysis (also called a Non-

Infringement analysis or a Clearance analysis) to ensure that no one else can enforce their

rights towards the exploitation of the current technology. Similarly, software may be

developed on other existing platforms, in which case, permissions must be sought for using

the existing platforms to use the developed software.

AGREEMENTS AND CONTRACTS

The other aspect of successful commercialization of technology revolves around the

proper ownership of the developed technology. This stems from a more practical

consideration in that the commercialization partner would want to ensure that all parts of the

technology is owned by a single entity and hence, would require dealing with one entity.

Moreover, complete and proper ownership also ensures that risks associated with competition

are sufficiently mitigated, thus giving the commercialization partner greater confidence in

going through with the deal.

Proper ownership of assets stems from proper paperwork between all parties involved.

At the outset, all parties involved- including internal employees and external contractors,

partners, consultants etc.- need to sign a confidentiality agreement so that all the information

shared with them will remain safe within the confines of this confidentiality. This would

involve proper execution of contracts with all employees. Such contracts need to have

clauses that clearly state the ownership of all the assets generated using organizational

resources and/or as part of assigned tasks. These employee contracts need to adhere to local

and regional laws as well. The contracts also need to be framed in such a way that they are

enforceable in case of any breach by one of the parties.

It is also worth mentioning here that every organization needs to maintain accurate and

proper documents showcasing every step of technology development in a clear manner. This

includes proper maintenance of a laboratory notebook by the appropriate personnel. A

typical laboratory notebook has the dates of experiment, the nature of experiments conducted,

results from it, any drawings to illustrate the point, and other such relevant details. Each page

of the notebook has to be signed by the researcher and also needs to be witnessed by a

suitable person. Electronic versions of notebooks also require electronic versions of

signature and other aspects. Proper notebook maintenance helps in identifying inventorship,

clarifying disputes related to dates on which a certain concept was conceived, and other

detail-oriented aspects, which would otherwise be forgotten with passage of time.

Agreements with third parties involved with the organization also need to have clauses

that define ownership clearly. Since the nature of agreements depend on the nature of the

engagement, the exact form of ownership may also vary on a case-to-case basis. Some

exemplary agreements include: consultancy agreements with consultants and experts, joint

development agreements with other organizations or universities, service contracts with third

party vendors, and so on.

In some instances, like a joint development agreement, ownership may be shared, but

the usage of the developed technology may be defined to ensure there is no conflict towards

the business interests of the organization. For example, when developing a technology

jointly with a university, the agreement may clearly state that the technology being

developed, including all the data, knowledge etc. belongs to the organization, while the

university is free to use the technology for teaching and research purposes. Similarly, when

two businesses are involved in a joint development project, the agreement may state that the

technology being developed may be used for a particular purpose by one organization, while

the other organization may not be permitted to use it for its own commercial ends. Such

clauses ensure that no conflicts arise in the market, and the business interests of the

organization are protected. Consequently, any commercialization endeavour will also be

made facile.

Typical contracts with third parties include a clause that explicitly state that all the

work products, intellectual property rights, etc. developed by the vendors as part of their

contract related activities will belong to the organization. This is considered correct as the

work done by the vendor is paid for by the organization.

The more crystallized form of intellectual property rights mentioned above, viz.

patents, copyrights, trademarks, industrial designs etc. need to be filed and registered with the

proper authorities in the name of the organization. Subsequently, any follow up to ensure

maintenance of the IPR needs to be within the prescribed time limits to ensure that the IPRs

do not lapse or expire. Often times, once it lapses, the rights from the IP can never be

recovered and the whole exercise becomes futile.

COMMERCIALIZATION

The interpretation of commercialization in the knowledge economy has broadened to

include transactions for knowledge, IP assets, know-how, designs, and any other aspects of a

technology for monetary considerations. This kind of technology transfer may take many

different forms, and each of those will be briefly discussed here.

TECHNOLOGY ACQUISITION

Selling: Technology is transferred to a commercialization partner for a one-time up-

front payment. This is particularly advantageous for the technology developer as the

payment is collected ahead of time regardless of the performance and/or usage of the

technology in the market. The disadvantage could be that if the technology happens to

become a runaway success, then the riches resulting from it will not be seen by the

technology developer. This is an option taken by those wishing to play it safe and also those

looking to exit a particular business.

Typically, when the technology developer is an SME, during a technology selling

transaction, the entire business is allowed to be acquired by the commercializing entity. As

mentioned earlier, technology development involves a long and arduous effort that consumes

quite a bit of capital. Consequently, a technology acquisition provides one possible best

outcome for the investors and promoters of the technology in the most rapid manner. The

sale of the business also gives rise to an increase in working capital for the technology. The

commercializing entity acquiring the SME usually has complementary technologies,

products, an established infrastructure like sales teams and distribution channels, and so on.

The SME will gain by this acquisition in having access to these aspects. Hence, there is a

definite possibility for a rapid expansion of consumer base. Through this technology

acquisition, the commercializing entity acquires a key technology through which it opens up

the possibility of eliminating competition. The added technology also gives the opportunity

to expand or add a product line. Further, through the acquisition of the SME, the

commercializing entity has access to the creative talent and expertise to the team that

developed the technology. Access to the team who developed the technology is important

because it has been proven that the success of the commercialization is much greater when

the inventor is an integral part of the commercialization plan of the inventions than when the

inventor is not8. An Ernst & Young study showed that in the first quarter of 2012, mergers

and acquisitions of the order of USD 25.1 billion from 756 deals occurred9.

LICENSING

During licensing, the technology developer gives permission to at least one

commercialization partner to exploit the technology. In return, the technology developer is

paid a sum commensurate with the extent of the exploitation of the technology. The sum that

is paid to the technology developer is generally referred to as royalty, which is usually a

percentage of the total revenue or sales or some such figure (and hence, it is also referred to

as royalty rate). The risk is shared between the technology developer and the

commercialization partner as the share of revenues for the technology developer depends on

the extent of exploitation. The share of revenues may also be in the form of milestone

payments instead of royalties, or sometimes, in addition to royalties.

Different types of licensing exist that are suitably employed by businessmen towards

achieving their commercialization goals.

Exclusive License: A license is given to a single entity for the suitable exploitation of

technology. In this situation, because only one other partner enters into a business deal,

higher rates can be negotiated by the technology developer. The downside of an exclusive

license is that the entire revenue from that technology depends on the commercialization

partner’s capabilities. Hence, it becomes very important to evaluate a commercial partner as

to their manufacturing capabilities, marketing, distribution channels, brand value, and so on.

In a typical exclusive license, the technology developer also holds some rights to suitably

exploit the technology, at least to some extent, for example, for research and teaching

purposes.

Sole License: In this case, a license is given to a single entity in such a manner that the

technology developer forfeits his/her rights towards exploiting the technology, albeit for

some exceptional circumstances like personal use.

Non-Exclusive License: In the case of a non-exclusive license, the technology

developer gives permissions to multiple entities capable to suitably exploit the developed

technology. In this manner, the risks for failure for the technology developer are minimized

as multiple partners are at work. As a downside, the royalty rate that can be negotiated will

be lower as compared to an exclusive license. Even within the confines of a non-exclusive

license deal, some form of exclusivity can be carved out, by defining some aspects, such as

territory, or other things suitably. Thus for example, a non-exclusive license may be given to

a commercialization partner, wherein the commercialization partner will be exclusive to that

region or geography. In another example, when a technology can be manifested in many

different ways, a license may be given to one commercialization partner to exploit it in one

particular technology domain alone. As a further illustration to the latter point, an example

for a technology for image processing may have been developed by an organization. License

to use this image processing technology is given to one player to be used exclusively in the

domain ultrasound image processing alone, whereas a license to another player is given to be

used in processing photographs on social networking sites, and so on.

Cross License: This is a favourable licensing arrangement between two technology

developers who own complementary assets, each of which may not prove as useful as

combining all the assets together. Thus, both parties work towards commercializing the

technology by giving access to their technology to the other. The monetizing manner

depends on the nature of the business deal, and may range from equally sharing the profits

between them, or just agree to co-exist in the market without any sharing of revenues, or

other such arrangement.

START-UPS AND SPIN-OFFS

Early stage technologies are associated with high risks, in that they are associated with

both technology risks and market risks, as neither of these has been tested to the extent they

need to be to ensure success. In many instances, early stage technologies are developed in

research institutions and universities. Typically, after initial proof of concept and maybe

even prototype stage done at these academic labs, directly commercializing to an existing

entity may not be very easy. Most commercial entities would prefer to see more risk

mitigation through some more development and moving up the TRL before commercializing

the technology. In such instances, the academic labs would be well advised to start a

business venture to take the technology to the next stages until acquisition or suitable

licensing or other forms of exit strategies. Any new business that is set up to take a technical

concept and develop it further is referred to as a start-up company, sometimes shortened as

start-up. University spin-offs or research spin-offs are special form of start-ups that are set up

for the sole purpose of taking the technology developed in an academic lab or university

closer to market. Corporate spin-offs are formed when a separate business is formed on the

basis of one arm of the original corporation, the reasons for forming the corporate spin-off

may be very many and are not covered here.

To make it a working model that is sustainable over time, the academic institutes and

universities have to actively stimulate entrepreneurial activities along with technological

capabilities so that there is a ready outlet for the technological developments in a timely

manner. Entrepreneurship works best when there is ready access to investors and consultants

who can kick start a spin-off business. Besides attracting funding from venture capital firms,

angel investors, banks, or other providers of early-stage financial capital to finance the

development of the technology, the spin-off may also be involved in developing a successful

business model for the product it is aiming to market. In the process, the spin-off will at least

acquire the first customers who will provide valuable feedback, which can then be used to

refine the product and services associated with the business.

REFERENCES

1. http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/commercialization

2. Greg Stevens and James Burley, 3,000 Raw Ideas = 1 Commercial Success,

Research Technology Management, 40(3), May-June 1997, 16-27.

3. Commercializing New Technologies: Getting from Mind to Market by Vijay K.

Jolly, [Kindle Edition] 1997.

4. http://sci.esa.int/science-e/www/object/index.cfm?fobjectid=37710

5. http://www.hq.nasa.gov/office/codeq/trl/trl.pdf

6. http://www.acq.osd.mil/chieftechnologist/publications/docs/TRA2011.pdf

7. Practical Approach to Intellectual Property Rights by Rachna Singh Puri and

Arvind Viswanathan, I.K. Books International, 2009.

8. "The Inventor’s Role: Was Schumpeter Right?" by Pontus Braunerhjelm and Roger

Svensson, IFN Working Paper No. 690, 2007.

9. http://www.ey.com/GL/en/Newsroom/News-releases/Technology-mergers-and-

acquisitions-off-to-a-mixed-start-in-2012