Technology and Commercial Development Programs

Mission
The mission of the Office of Technology and Commercial Development Programs is to encourage and assist in the development and protection of intellectual property developed by Georgia State University faculty, staff, and students. The office promotes the transfer of technology in an effort to provide benefit and support to the university's academic mission, to enhance the urban and state economy, and to provide to the general public access to Georgia State Intellectual Property in a manner that is consistent with the university's academic principles. The office has the additional mission to identify, develop, and establish relationships with business, industry, and trade groups (preferable in Georgia, but not limited thereto) for joint programs of mutually beneficial economic impact to both parties and the State of Georgia.

Overview of Services
Specifically, the Division:

• Promotes the creation of knowledge through the research programs at Georgia State University
• Assists the knowledge creators and the university to "package" such created knowledge into manageable units, called intellectual property
• Provides expertise to the university on actions appropriate to protect the university's ownership of such intellectual property
• Indentifies and implements opportunities for extracting value by the successful commercial exploitation of such intellectual property, through such vehicles as licensing, start-up companies, joint programs with existing companies, and other commercially available arrangements

We assist research personnel to complete the Intellectual Property Disclosure Form. We coordinate the internal review of the created material with the Intellectual Property Advisory Committee, and with appropriate outside technical and legal assistance. We market the technology to move it into the commercial sector, and we assist in negotiating licensing arrangements with existing or start-up companies. We provide assistance to university related companies pursuing SBIR/STTR grants. And, we are part of the management of the CollabTech incubator.

The overall goal is to promote the development of such intellectual property and to enable the maximum value therein to be transferred to the commercial and economic community within the state. Recapture of economic or monetary value to the university is important, as such recaptured value enables the growth and expansion of funded research activities; however, it is of lesser value than the maximization of university contributed economic impact.