[COMMERCIALIZATION PROCESS]

Step 3: Commercialization

Commercial development of your IP begins in earnest after patent protection has been sought. PARTEQ works in partnership with you, the inventor, throughout the commercialization process.

Please note that every technology is different and both the steps and length of time involved in advancing it to the market can vary. Generally, however, commercialization of your discovery follows one of two paths:

>> Licensing

>> Venture Creation

The licensing process
Licensing refers to the acquisition of the rights to your intellectual property by a licensee, allowing them to develop your technology and/or bring it to market. In return you, the inventor, and Queen's, share in the fees, royalties and other payments negotiated by PARTEQ.

Typically the licensing process looks like this:

1. Find potential licensees
PARTEQ's commercialization managers use their experience and personal networks, and consult an array of databases and information repositories to identify suitable licensing candidates. These can be, for example, existing companies operating in the market where your technology would ultimately be sold, or companies whose R&D capabilities or existing products could enhance the delivery of your product to market.

2. Enter confidential discussions
PARTEQ contacts and enters into confidentiality agreements with potential licensees, allowing the parties to begin detailed discussions of your technology. NOTE: This is a crucial point of contact between the potential licensee and you, the inventor, because you can speak with authority to the potential value of your discovery.

3. Negotiate term sheets and final agreement
At this point, PARTEQ begins negotiating the terms and conditions under which the licensee will acquire and proceed with development of your technology. Generally these documents work to protect you, the inventor, while acknowledging both the early-stage nature of the technology and the considerable investment required by the licensee to bring it to market. PARTEQ typically negotiates for long-term returns, such as royalties, on licensed technologies.

4. Manage and monitor progress
After the licence is executed, PARTEQ monitors licensees to ensure that they uphold their obligations to develop the licensed technology as per their agreement, and that they report regularly on the achievement of certain milestones and pay any triggered fees on time.

5. Distribution of net proceeds
Your share of the net proceeds generated in the calendar year by the licensing of your technology is distributed to you in February of the following year.

>>View our licensed products

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The venture creation process -Spinoffs/Startups
Venture Creation refers to the "spinning off" of new companies, or ventures, to further develop your intellectual property. New ventures (also known as spinoffs or startups) are created when your technology has the potential to generate many future products, and when PARTEQ believes that a venture can add significant value to your technology by attracting funding to conduct additional research and development in-house.

Please note that being involved in a startup company is not for the faint of heart! A startup can take years to become established with products in the development pipeline, and requires a tremendous commitment of time and effort on the part of the inventor(s).

Typically, the venture creation process looks like this:

1. Create new venture
When a new venture is warranted, we typically establish in a "virtual" mode. This means that PARTEQ assumes business development and management responsibilities, while early-stage financing dollars go directly to research and development.

2. Begin business development
PARTEQ as a rule manages all business development aspects of the new venture, including:
- drafting the initial business plan to bring the venture to a stage where a partnership with an existing  commercial entity can be forged. This may involve contract research in the inventor's lab, or a research grant at another institution, or working with contract research organizations and consultants.
- seeking funding sources;
- closing financing deals; and
- working with legal counsel to ensure appropriate corporate structures are in place.

3. Direct value-added research
PARTEQ manages the development of the technology in its pre-financing stage. Once funds are secured, the venture's management team begins to take on this role.

4. Develop technology and grow the company
PARTEQ's involvement in the spinoff evolves as your discovery advances along the development pipeline. Intermediate-stage development of a spinoff can include the appointment of a part-time or interim CEO, who focuses on pursuing further financing and begins to build the company's executive management team, preparing to launch the company from virtual to actual mode. Typically this is the point at which the inventor begins to play less of a hands-on role in the development of his or her technology.

6. Hand-off and continuing involvement
As companies go through further rounds of financing and are able to attract their own management, PARTEQ gradually relinquishes its day-to-day involvement. However, it continues to represent the interests of the inventor and the university as long as possible through arm's-length positions such as board memberships, and through continued management of the licensed patent portfolio.

>>View our spinoff companies 

Frequently asked questions

What is a licence?

What is a spinoff company?

Where can I find commercialization funding?

How long does the commercialization process take?

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