The Commercialisation and Technology Transfer Office (C&TTO) assists entrepreneurs and inventors with the commercial implementation of innovative technologies or business processes. The Office advises and assists clients in developing strategies for the protection of intellectual property (IP), drafting the relevant legal agreements, managing the patenting of inventions and the registration of trademarks, establishing start-up companies and acquiring equity in established companies subsequent to commercial due diligence.
Projects are grouped into three categories: A (highest priority), B (moderate priority) and C (limited priority) based on the criteria of market potential, reputational benefit to the university and societal benefit. This classification approach is based on qualitative aspects of the value proposition of each project in terms of its innovativeness, scalability and market potential and of emergent trends within the relevant
economic sector.
The Office also worked closely with the Resolution Circle (RC) and the Technology Thrusts to establish proper structure for these new initiatives without risk to existing academic structures but still keeping them within the university environment.
The C&TTO has adhered to international best practice models when developing systems and templates used for managing the commercialisation process. C&TTO staff conduct due diligence, evaluate the business case for new inventions and conduct preliminary prior art searches, all from the perspective of a prospective investor. With dedicated project management, the C&TTO thus provides objective, realistic assessments of the commercial potential of the university’s project portfolio with an emphasis on strategic risk assessment to remove critical bottlenecks within projects.