Assessing Technology Transfer and Business Development Potential: Technology Cluster Analysis

This article presents a methodology that university technology transfer practitioners can employ to improve interactions with corporations that have active intellectual property management programs. The methodology provides a means for packaging university intellectual property in ways that align with core competencies of corporations and is designed to maintain consistency with the mission, ethics, and organizational practices of both large corporations and research universities. For historical and organizational reasons, intellectual property at universities tends to be developed in discrete units that are, in turn, licensed as discrete units—usually based on a patent. The authors call this model one-off licensing. Although widely practiced, one-off licensing may diminish the university’s ability to realize the full potential of its intellectual property. Enhanced value results when several pieces of related intellectual property are grouped together. Synergistic groupings of intellectual property also enhance the ability of universities to spin out successful contributions to business formation.