Wellington
‘Negative know-how’ was a fantastic idea thrown up at the
Kate Wilson was talking to about100 people actively trying to kick university or CRI ideas into life.
It refers to keeping records of so-called ‘failure’ in research and development. It may benotes of what was technically difficult, impossible or not very successful.
Wilson, of patent attorneys James & Wells , says such arecord can actually be a saleable product – especially to those working in the same field, who cansave themselves time and money by NOT repeating what’s been shown to be not useful.
But in the line of reframing the idea of failure, negative know-how is a powerful term.
The KiwiNet university and CRI commercialisers were also given a reminder (as if they didn’trealise it anyway) of the mindset(s) that researchers will often have. Whereas someone who is tryingto figure how to turn an idea into something of (commercial) value might think in days or weeks,some researchers have a much longer timeframe – years even.
As Prof Alison Stewart says too (having had 20years successful and less so experience in commercialising science) told attendees, when she’sbriefing researchers about to engage with industry she reminds them – what, why and how.
The big picture, particularly from an industry (in her particular case innovative and naturalplant bio-protection) needs to be kept in mind by scientists – the what and why – before theyjump to the how….which is the science experiment itself.
Too often Stewart says, recently graduated PhD’s are thrown into the deep end of a researchproject for an outside client; when these are the very people who should be nurtured and guidedthrough the whole process.
A simple management strategy is very helpful in this case she says – in particular themaintenance of an accurate laboratory book, and monitoring progress against commercialmilestones.
“Researchers also need to be taught how to talk the talk,” when they’re in discussions withindustry clients Prof Stewart says.
In identifying valuable intellectual property, the before-mentioned Kate Wilson says there’sfour categories of competitive advantage:
One of the more effective techniques Wilson says, is to ask a researchers why they’ve botheredto do a particular piece of work?
“Then you need to pause,” she says. That silence, that answer is often “when thebreakthrough occurs.”
If there was one observation of what might help improve the quantum of commercialisation fromKiwiNet members, it was from a couple of non-New Zealanders.
Both
Anthony Francis ofFlinders Partners
(of Flinders University, South Australia), and
After some hard and fast market validation, their attitude was simply to let people (preferablywith a vested interest in the gig) get on with it.
Don’t get too worked up about IP ownership, just get on with it as hard and fast aspossible!