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Wheels Up for AUTM Eastern Region Meeting!

By Susan Patow posted 05-27-2015 08:52

  

Wheels Up for AUTM Eastern Region Meeting!

Save the date! Join us at the AUTM Eastern Region Meeting, held this year in Raleigh, North Carolina, August 31-September 1!

North Carolina has a rich history of invention. If you are flying to the meeting, give thanks to the Wright brothers, Orville and Wilbur, who made history on December 17, 1903, on the dunes in Kitty Hawk.  Although their “first in flight” status is controversial, they were indeed the first to invent aircraft controls that made fixed-wing powered flight possible. Their first U.S. patent, 821393, did not claim invention of a flying machine, but rather the invention of a system of aerodynamic control that manipulated a flying machine's surfaces.

But as it turned out, the Wright Brothers were excellent self-taught engineers with a knack for tinkering more than for business. Legal troubles and patent fights distracted them from what they excelled at— invention and innovation.

Sound familiar? They didn’t have a technology transfer office to evaluate their technology, file and manage the patent prosecution and license the technology! Imagine if they did—maybe in addition to being known as great inventors, they would be known as great businessmen, too!

The Eastern Region Meeting is filled with opportunities to learn about licensing, technology transfer issues in agriculture, starting and funding companies, recent court decisions affecting software patents, and finding $$$ to keep your invention from crashing. And, of course, opportunities for networking! New this year are plans for a special evening social event!

So mark your calendars and chart a course for this lively and informative meeting! Wheels up!

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