If you build it, they will come…Not in Innovation Advancement!

Marketing is important in securing a license for a new technology, and your best marketer is you!  A large majority of licensees originally were contacts from the inventor. Conferences, poster sessions, trainings, and past schoolmates or colleagues are all excellent sources of potential licensees for university technologies.  USC Stevens Innovation Advancement team will also conduct a marketing campaign for available technologies following the procedure listed below.

Assessment

Market analysis is one of the key elements conducted during the assessment of new technologies.  A new technology is evaluated based on patentability, size of the market, competitors, and the technology’s potential societal impact.

Provisional Patent

Patent rights are often protected during the assessment and marketing stage by filing for a provisional patent.  A provisional patent allows for an internationally recognized filing date without the full formalities of a regular patent application, such as oaths, declarations and claims.  Within one year after the filing date of the provisional patent application, a decision will be made to either convert the provisional patent to a utility application or to drop the patent. 

Decisions to convert provisional patent applications will be made based off of the conclusions from the assessment period.  Not every provisional patent application will be converted!

Marketing Outreach

Based off of a list of contacts provided by the inventor, a list of targeted marketing contacts will be compiled by the USC Stevens Innovation Advancement team. 

Marketing campaigns consist of letter mailings, emails, and phone calls to marketing contacts.  No confidential information regarding the technology is used at any point during the campaign, until a company expresses interest in the technology and signs a non-disclosure agreement.

Inventors will be provided with a list of companies contacted throughout a marketing campaign upon request.

Non-Confidential Descriptions

Marketing materials are developed by the USC Stevens Innovation Advancement team.  Since confidentiality is very important, all materials are drafted with only non-confidential information on the technology and presented in language targeted for the business development employees, who have varying degrees of scientific knowledge. This non-confidential description is used for the initial marketing outreach and is distributed to targeted companies within a technology’s applicable market. 

Search for USC IP Webpage

The non-confidential descriptions are posted on USC Stevens Institute’s website in the Search for USC IP section.  All available USC technologies will be posted in this section and can be viewed by the general public. 

Average Time

Due to the large numbers of USC technologies disclosed to our office, marketing campaigns are prioritized depending on publication dates or public disclosure dates of a technology.  A marketing campaign will be conducted within the term of a provisional patent application.  Ongoing marketing efforts will continue for all available technologies with protect-able intellectual property.

Innovator Responsibilities:

1. Provide a list of contacts of potential marketing contacts.  If no specific contacts are known, then a list of the leading companies in the technology’s industry field will be required instead.
2. Meet with Business Development and Licensing Associate and Specialist to discuss technology.
3. Market your own technology under the guidelines on this website!
4. Timely review and approval non-confidential technology descriptions.
5. Review and provide feedback on marketing target lists.