ECU Research Commercialisation

Commercial Potential and IP Protection Form

Name of Commercialisation Opportunity:

Date:

Author:

Originating School / Institute:

Purpose

The purpose of this form is to facilitate assessment of the opportunity by duly authorised representatives of the Office of Research and Innovation, the Finance and Business Services Centre, the Office of Legal Services and the Risk and Assurance Service Centre. The assessment will consider:

i)commercial potential, including:

  1. substantiation of a customer value proposition
  2. provisional calculation of the addressable target market
  3. a provisional execution plan for commercialisation
  4. benefits to ECU, the community and the nation.

ii)potential for IP protection and/or sustainable competitive advantage.

Instructions

Information provided by ECU Researchers in the Self-Assessment and Invention Disclosure Forms will be considered as part of the assessment process; therefore these forms must be attached.

In completing this form, researchers should use their best efforts to obtain relevant information to the commercialisation of their innovation. This should include making use of freely available resources and information, which may include but is not limited to internet and free database searching, confidential discussions with peers, potential customers and end-users, investors and channel partners (i.e. manufacturers, distributors, retailers, etc.) and feedback from other trusted advisers. In doing so, researchers should be mindful of their obligations with regards to disclosure of ECU IP and confidential information and the risks associated with disclosures outside the confines of a confidentiality agreement. For more information and advice in this regard please contact the Finance and Business Services Centre (FBSC).

Opportunities that meet the selection criteria will obtain support and advance to the next stage of the research commercialisation process. The next stage involves the application for government and/or other funding to undertake subsequent commercialisation activities. Without the support of the assessors mentioned above,ECU will not provide further resources and/or funding for commercialisation. Patent applications and other forms of intellectual property protection cannot be filed on ECU IP without the support of the School, ORI, FBSC and OLS. Please note, the submission of this form does not constitute the filing of a patent application, hence the conditions on disclosure remain in place until the Researcher is advised otherwise.

All decisions with regards to the commercialisation of research outcomes, including entering and moving through the ECU commercialisation process, are at ECU’s discretion. Not all commercialisation opportunities are expected to be successful. The key to minimising wastage and achieving the maximum benefit from limited resources is to identify why an opportunity is unlikely to be successful as early as possible. This form is designed to facilitate this process through the assessment of the underlying elements involved in the development of a commercialisation strategy (to be further refined in subsequent stages of the ECU research commercialisation process) and by stimulating discussion between ECU researchers and other ECU personnel where there is doubt to the commercial viability of that strategy. Such discussions are considered a healthy and necessary part of the overall commercialisation process.

The key stages in the ECU Research Commercialisation Process are:

  1. Self-Assessment (completed)
  2. Invention Disclosure and SchoolSupport (completed)
  3. Commercial Potential and IP Protection
  4. External Assessment and Co-Funding Support
  5. IP Protection, Strategy Development and Planning
  6. Strategy Implementation and Secure Returns
  7. Measurement, Monitoring and Management of Returns
  8. Exit and/or Project Closure

Submitting the Form

For further information or advice on completing this form please contact FBSC. When complete with attachments and all acknowledgements, please submit by email as follows.

Caroline Smith

Manager, FBSC

Email:

Phone: 08 6304 2180

ECU Research Commercialisation – Commercial Potential and IP Protection Form (January2016)Page 1

ECU Research Commercialisation

Project Information

Project Title
Please provide a working title of 10 words or lessthat describes the opportunity, discovery, invention or proposed product or service without revealing details that would diminish the novelty of the innovation.
Project Title:
Contact Person
Please provide below the details of the primary contact person for ECU on all matters associated with this Innovation. Ideally, the contact person is the Lead Innovator/Inventor. For reasons of administrative efficiency, it is the responsibility of the Lead Innovator to keep all other ECU innovators/inventors named on this Invention Disclosure informed of the status of such matters.
Title and Name of Contact Person:
Business Address:
Business telephone and fax numbers:
Email Address:

ECU Research Commercialisation – Commercial Potential and IP Protection Form (January2016)Page 1

ECU Research Commercialisation

Section 1: Commercial Potential

Detailed Description of the Proposed Product/Service/Process
Commercialisation is a process of generating financial returns from intellectual property. Intellectual property may take many forms including products and services to be marketed to a customer or a process or technology to be licensed and adopted by a customer. To start the assessment process ECU first needs to understand the nature and form of the IP, how it functions and its applications.
Describe in detail the product/service/process to be commercialised. Be as detailed as possible. Include any figures, images or diagrams that will assist in conveying the concept. This response should tie in with the description of the innovation / research breakthrough previously provided.
In your description address the following questions (you may wish to use them as headings):
  • How will the discovery be embodied (i.e. product, service, process, technology; form, function and design)? Include or attach diagrams or images where available.
  • What does it do (i.e. what application(s) does it have) and how does it achieve its function(s)?
  • Are there any other potential applications?

Customer Value Proposition / Market Demand
Irrespective of the nature of the IP, commercialisation seeks a customer that sees value in the IP as a means to address a problem, need or want. Many commercialisation efforts have failed because the inventorfelt that offering a set of features and benefits superior to other offerings would be sufficient to win customers and market share. The customer must perceive the product, process or service as superior to other offerings and alternatives in its ability to satisfy their purchase decision criteria. Perception is the key word here because customers rarely have perfect knowledge of the market, competing offerings or your product, process or service. Understanding what the customer’s specific decision criteria are and how they perceive value is crucial to successful commercialisation. Statistically, commercialisation of IP that is made without a customer in mind is less likely to be successful than that where the IP addresses a clearly identifiable problem, need or want. Wants are more difficult to characterise and quantify than problems and needs. For this reason, ECU focuses its efforts on innovations arising from research directed towards solving commercially oriented problems.The customer for the proposed product, service or process should already be known, as should the problem the innovation addresses. The extent to which you can define the customer, the problem, the value they are likely to perceive; and why they would perceive your offering as superior to others and your ability to substantiate your responses is the basis on which the assessment will be made.
  • Who is likely to be the end customer for the product/service?
  • Explain the customer problem you have solved and/or what market demand your product, process or service satisfies.
  • Why would they choose your offering over other alternatives to solving the customer problem, i.e. key competitive advantages?
  • What are the top three primary motivators for why the customer would want to buy the product, process or service? Explain relative to value they perceive.
  • Describe any existing third party interest (e.g. customers, channel partners, investors, etc.), when it was received and the current status of that relationship.
  • If it is possible to monetise the innovation / intellectual property prior to the final development of a product/service and achieving sales (e.g. early licence or partnering deal), please describe the intended transacting party, the nature of the transaction and reason(s) why you believe they will transact on the basis of the IP.

Acknowledgement of Customer Value Proposition / Market Demand
The following persons acknowledge that relative to the above, to the best of their knowledge, a sufficiently strong and distinct value proposition to an identifiable customer exists or can be developed on the basis of the innovation/IP:
Acknowledged by Lead Inventor / Author
Market Opportunity
For commercialisation to be successful it must generate sufficient returns to cover the costs incurred with sufficient profitability to justify the risk and time required to achieve those returns. In order to make an assessment of the likelihood of whether an innovation has sufficient potential to do so requires the qualification and quantification of the market into which the product, process or service will be sold. Given the resources available and the early stage of the opportunity it is sufficient to take a top down approach. There are two basic ways to do so; i) customers multiplied by the anticipated price they are likely to pay, and ii) the value of all revenue generated by all current offerings addressing the same customer problem. ECU does not expect Researchers to incur expense in sourcing such information but a surprising amount can be found freely by searching the internet. Identifying the number of customers relies on being able to define a market segment. Market segments are populations of customer that respond to marketing messages in a similar way. Rarely will a given product satisfy all customer types in a market. A target market is one directed at an identifiable market segment. Price should be commensurate with the perceived value the innovation delivers to the customer, which ties in with the previous section. Revenue from existing products is a useful indicator of market potential but still requires the unit price for a full assessment to be made. The extent to which you can address the following questions and substantiate your responses is the basis on which the assessment will be made.
  • Where figures are freely available, how many customers (previously described in the Value Proposition section) exist worldwide?
  • What would these customers be prepared to pay for the proposed product/service (i.e. price)? How does this compare with the price of competing offerings?
  • Calculate the value of your target market by multiplying the price for your proposed product or service by the number of customers worldwide.
  • Where figures are freely available, what is the annual revenue generated by currently available products/services that address the same customer problem?
  • To your knowledge, is this market growing or shrinking?

Acknowledgement of Market Opportunity
The following persons acknowledge that relative to the above, to the best of their knowledge, a significant and addressable market opportunity relative to the innovation, IP and/or the product, process or service to be commercialised:
Acknowledged by Lead Inventor / Author
Stage of Development / Market-Readiness
The Invention Disclosure Form requested information in regards to the technicalveracity of the innovation and the process for achieving a market ready product, service or process. Further information and detail is now required in order to fully assess the suitability and readiness of the innovation for commercialisation and the impact on commercial viability.
  • Please describe the current stage of development for the product/service/process that will embody the innovation. Do so by making reference to the extent to which the technical and commercial milestones have been overcome and the product/service is ready to be sold to customers, including your efforts to industrialise and reduce it to practice (e.g. concept, bench-top demonstrator, working prototype, beta software, field tested, customer trials, production prototype, production validation, market ready product, initial sales, etc.). Please make specific reference to any testing, trialling and statistically significant data that supports technical veracity, particular that involving independent verification and/or potential customers.
  • Based on your response above, what are the distinct stages of research and development that are required from this point to achieve a marketable product? How long will each of the stages in this process take and ultimately when do you anticipate a market ready product could be available?
  • What is the cost of completing each of these stages? Please summarise how you calculated these costs and provide substantiation of the accuracy.
  • Who (individuals/companies) do you envisage undertaking the work described above?
  • If you believe a market ready product/service has been developed, please justify.

Acknowledgement of Stage of Development / Market-Readiness
The following persons acknowledge that relative to the above, to the best of their knowledge, the innovation and IP has been developed to a sufficient stage and is ready for commercialisation efforts to commence:
Acknowledged by Lead Inventor / Author
Execution Plan
This section deals with the overall strategy and plan for how the IP will be commercialised and how this will result in profitable returns on the investment required for the execution of that plan. The plan should deal with the overall goals and steps to achieve those goals. Rarely are products and services brought to market by creating a completely new marketplace. More often, commercialisation efforts must align with the existing structure and functions within an existing market. Products, processes or servicesshould be delivered in a way that is compatible with customers’ purchase processes. It is much easier and less expensive to fit with existing customer behaviours than to attempt to change them in respect to an individual unproven product, process or service. A conventional purchase decision process consists of the stages of problem identification, evaluation of alternatives, trial, purchase and adoption. Marketing should consider each of these stages to ensure that products have the best chance of being fully adopted and achieve repeat sales and ideally referral to additional customers. Technologies and processes almost always fit within a greater system or infrastructure. No commercialisation pathway is without challenges and identifiable barriers.
Explain how you will get your product, process or services to market, attract customers, get them to adopt the product/service, and build a viable business.
  • What are your overall objectives?
  • What are your tactics to achieve those objectives?
  • What are the key challenges you may face?
  • What is the value chain for this market, i.e. how are products/services brought to market and what entities transact in this process?
Example 1: manufacturers sell to distributors who sell to wholesalers who sell to retailers who sell to the customer.
Example 2: Large integrated companies source their components from smaller specialist manufacturers, manufacture / assemble then sell direct to consumers or via distributors.
Do not feel limited by these examples.
  • What is the industry structure and level of competition?
Example 1: one dominant market leader and a number of much smaller players.
Example 2: a few companies that each holds a large portion of the market.
Example 3: numerous companies each with a small share.
Do not feel limited by these examples.
  • Has a risk assessment and risk management plan been prepared in consultation with RASC?

Acknowledgement of Execution Plan
The following persons acknowledge that relative to the above, to the best of their knowledge, a viable and achievable strategy and plan has been, or can be, devised which has a strong likelihood of generating sufficient commercial returns to justify the required level of investment:
Acknowledged by Lead Inventor / Author
Funding Request and Use of Funds
It is anticipated that funding will be required to support the development of your opportunity and it is important to understand how much is required and for what activities it will be used for. External funding for commercialisation activities may be available through government funding programs, Angel/private or corporate investment, etc. so these sources should be considered wherever possible.
  • How much funding do you believe will be required to support your opportunity initially and on an ongoing basis? Please provide a breakdown of this funding on an annual basis, if applicable.
  • Are you aware of any external sources of funding that are available and aretheysufficient to meet your requirements?
  • Do you require funding from ECU and, if so, how much? Please remember that ECU is generally not a lead investor but it may co-invest with other parties (e.g. private investors, industry and government agencies) to facilitate commercialisation.
  • How will this funding be used (i.e. how will the funding be spent, e.g. prototypes, contractors, salaries, etc.?
  • What are the intended outcomes and how will they aid in advancing the Execution Plan set out in the relevant section above?

Acknowledgement of Funding Request and Use of Funds
The following persons acknowledge that relative to the above, ORI funds required to meet any matching funding requirements for any grants awarded in relation to commercialisation will not exceed $30,000*
And;
Where alternative external sources of funding are not available or could not be secured the following persons acknowledge that relative to the above, to the best of their knowledge, the opportunity possesses sufficient merit for ECU to provide funding to support the development of a commercialisation plan. Notwithstanding the above, funds provided by ORI in this regard should not exceed $50,000*:
Acknowledged by Lead Inventor / Author
* Amounts stated are current at time of publication and are subject to change at ECU’s discretion.
Benefits to ECU and the Nation
The Invention Disclosure Form requested information in regards to the benefits likely to accrue to ECU and the Nation from commercialisation. Further information and detail is now required in order to fully assess the potential for these benefits to be realised, including how they will be realised and how progress in this regard might be measured.
  • Please explain how you see the commercialisation of the IP benefiting ECU with regards to teaching, learning and research.
  • Please explain how you believe the commercialisation of the IP will assist ECU achieve its Purpose, Vision and Strategic Priorities.
  • Please describe the benefits to Australia and/or Australia’s participation and competitiveness in the global economy you believe will come about as a result of commercialising the IP.
  • Please explain how you believethe above benefits will be achieved.
  • Please describe how the above benefits could be measured.

Acknowledgement of ECU and National Benefits
The following persons acknowledge that relative to the above, to the best of their knowledge, the Execution Plan proposed above has a strong likelihood of generating significant benefits to ECU relative to its Purpose, Visions and Strategic Priorities, to the community and to Australia and its international competitiveness:
Acknowledged by Lead Inventor / Author

ECU Research Commercialisation – Commercial Potential and IP Protection Form (January2016)Page 1