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Inside Purdue Research park team scouts path from idea to commercialization January 10, 2006 Trans leads journeys through often pecarious processes On questions of how to protect and commercialize Purdue discoveries or inventions,Simran Trana is Purdue’s answer woman. “It’s my job to protect original ideas, assess their commercial potential and promote their development,” says Trana, acting director of the Office of Technology Commercialization (OTC), from her office in the Purdue Technology Center at Purdue Research Park. As succinct as her job definition may sound, the challenging and time-consuming task of commercializing new technologies is fraught with expense and risk that combine to create a low rate of success for discoveries and inventions nationwide. The first potential hazard for any new Purdue discovery crops up even
before the idea If the idea is brought to Trana while it’s still confidential, she can do her job. Trana works with her staff to analyze the commercial potential of technologies invented by Purdue faculty, staff or students. Trana’s staff, who have advanced, specialized backgrounds in technology and the sciences, carefully weigh the commercial viability of each new discovery. “If an idea is at a very basic scientific level - and many discoveries at universities are - the OTC staff have multi-disciplinary expertise to determine whether it can be developed into something that has commercial value,” she says. The decisions are made with full understanding of the odds stacked against
“Of all technologies ever patented, 4 to 5 percent have ever made the transition to commercial success,” she says. “For that reason we tend to be very, very conservative in assessing new ideas.” Just pursuing a patent is an expensive proposition by itself, Trana points out. The patent process can cost from $10,000 to $50,000 in government fees and attorney fees. If the technology is assessed as commercially viable, Trana and her staff will work with the inventor and choose among many commercialization strategies while the patent is pending. Such strategies include licensing the idea to an existing company, establishing a start-up company that involves the faculty member chiefly responsible for the invention, or choosing to pursue a start-up company that is led by someone other than the faculty member. Trana says non-faculty start-ups are a particular focus for the OTC right now.“We are working to engage entrepreneurs and then help them raise money,” she says. “We are helping to facilitate the link between the faculty member and the entrepreneur.” Trana is planning a series of visits throughout Indiana to solicit involvement by entrepreneurs interested in leading commercial ventures based on Purdue technologies. “The more people we can get engaged and involved, the better chance we’ll have of getting high-quality CEOs,” she says. Thanks to Trana and her staff, many of the 90 companies now employing 2,500 people in Purdue Research Park are developing Purdue-licensed technologies. Faculty or staff who believe they now, or soon will, have patentable technologies, should contact Trana with questions about how to protect their intellectual property and possibly commercialize their work. Her office number is 49-46725 and e-mail is strana@purdueresearchfoundation.org.
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