TIDO’s licensing managers and our Business Development and Marketing teams use many sources and strategies to identify potential licensees and market inventions. Leveraging existing relationships of the inventors, the TIDO staff, and other researchers is the best way to start a marketing campaign. We also identify prospective licensees through other venues including market research. We participate in networking and partnering meetings to pitch licensing opportunities to industry scientists and business development executives.
Once companies show interest, the inventor is the best person to describe the full details of the invention and its technical and competitive advantages. The most successful licensing and corporate research funding results are obtained when the inventor and the licensing professional work together as a team to market and pitch the technology/research.
It is difficult to overstate the importance of your engagement in the process. Studies have shown that the inventors already knew the ultimate licensee 70 percent of the time. Thus, research and consulting relationships are valuable sources.
It can take months and sometimes years to locate a potential licensee, depending on the attractiveness of the invention, its stage of development, competing technologies, and the size and intensity of the market. Most inventions tend to be in the early stage of development and may require substantial translational development investment, such as the Technology Development Fund or industry sponsored research, to attract a licensee
If you are a Boston Children’s Hospital investigator with a research project that could benefit from partnership with a company in the health care sector, please contact TIDO at TIDO@childrens.harvard.edu.