I recently returned from Asia after attending two events:
AUTM-Asia and the National University of Singapore’s (NUS) annual InnovFest
Celebration. AUTM-Asia was a first ever
event held in Beijing [Ashley Stevens
will blog soon on current tech transfer
practices and industry in China). There
were over 1,000 attendees (200+ from outside of China). The two day meeting including plenary
speeches from Chief Justice Randall Rader, Past President Ashley Stevens and
Wang Binying, Deputy Director, WIPO. The
second day included technology partnering sessions in a number of areas
including biopharma, agriculture, IT and new energy technologies. Simply the fact that so many people attended
a conference to network and to discuss IP issues and licensing practices
internationally bodes well for international cooperation in discussion in all
areas of academic technology commercialization.
AUTM is pleased to announce that the second AUTM-Asia event will be held
next year in Singapore.
After Beijing, I traveled to Singapore for the Technology
Commercialisation Forum as part of NUS’ annual InnovFest. I was honored to give the keynote address on
“30 Years of Bayh-Dole.” Other
fascinating talks were given on sustainable practices and technologies from the
point of view of industry, government and most interestingly from the
architectural and city planning arena.
Later there were individual forums on life and physical sciences tech
transfer followed by a lavish networking dinner and innovation and awards event
where a number of faculty and student entrepreneurs were feted for their
successes. The highpoint for all was a
speech by Facebook co-founder, Eduardo Saverin.
At dinner with Eduardo, I confirmed that I, like his mother, learned to
text and join Facebook simply to communicate with my own son.
Other items to note this month include the recent movement
toward patent reform as the House Judiciary Committee moved forward with their
own version of a bill. The most controversial
issue in the House Committee bill remains the inclusion of prior user rights
which historically has been opposed by universities. The bottom line is that we are not quite
finished with patent reform. Please stay
tuned for more updates from Andy Cohn, AUTM Vice President for Advocacy, as the
negotiations continue.
We have now closed the books on 2010 and are pleased to
report to our members that we ended the year with close to $200,000 net income,
well over the 2010 budget of $11,000.
AUTM’s investment account also increased to $1.9 million as of the end
of 2010. Currently we are on track for a
positive 2011 based on the success of the 2011 Annual Meeting. Membership growth continues to be a
concern. AUTM Vice Presidents Phyl
Speser and Lily Chan are working hard to develop new initiatives to improve
membership retention and growth both in the United States and
internationally. Later in the year, I
will report on the 2012 budget planning and provide continued updates on
2011. The next Board meeting is May 3,
so look for a meeting summary later in
May.