For researchers working in technical fields, inventions are to be expected. Unfortunately, many university inventors receive little, if any, training on what to do once they have an invention on their hands. Our team has put together a handy FAQ to help orient inventors to the world of university-industry technology transfer. We’ve also put together a quick overview of what we see as the key steps for inventors to transform their ideas into commercial solutions.
Step One: Understand the problem that you are solving
Few inventions are truly novel visions of the world. Usually, they are combinations of known ideas that, together, solve a new problem. Understanding the problem is often 90% of the invention battle. Understanding the problem also helps you to articulate market applications for your invention, and gives you a mechanism to compare your solution to alternatives. The latter is particularly important in the commercial context, where it really doesn’t matter *how* a problem is solved. I frequently read new project proposals that proudly promise to speed up a particular technique by 10x – only to overlook the fact that a different type of technique already solved the problem years ago. It doesn’t matter that you have the world’s fastest horse when people drive cars. If you are looking to have your idea commercialized, save yourself some time and make sure that what you are doing really is novel, and makes sense in the technology landscape.
To read the full, original article click on this link: Technology Transfer Office « The Tech Entrepreneurship Blog
