Technology Transfer & Commercialization Model:

From Research to Revenue

Technology Valuation and Market Assessment

Technology Valuation and Market Assessment

Evaluate Patentability and Marketability

The red boxes in Figure 3 show the early stages when a researcher identifies a potential invention and submits a Disclosure to TT&C.  If the disclosed invention seems to offer benefits to industry or society, the next step is to assess the patent strength of the Disclosure.

In addition to the basic considerations of novelty, usefulness, and non-obviousness, the invention must fall in a patentable subject matter category, which typically includes processes, machines, manufactures, compositions of matter, or improvements thereof.  If the description meets the criteria required to be considered patentable, marketability is then evaluated.


flow chart: Research > Disclosure > Evaluation > Assess patentability and how readily a product can be manufactured for target market > Patentable? > Claims Scope too Narrow > Close Out? > Marketable? > PoC Needed? > More Dev? > More Research [More work needed: Demonstrate invention can be productized or do more research to broaden the claims scope]
Figure: Figure 3 Patentability and marketability evaluation steps

 

There are many factors to consider when it comes to taking an invention from lab to market with some chance of commercial success.  In this context, Marketability refers to the overall ability to

  1. manufacture the product at a reasonable cost, with
  2. low Quality Assurance (QA) rejection rates during production, and be able to
  3. maintain and support the product throughout its lifecycle.

At this decision point we need to at least affirm the invention can be manufactured with consistent results.