Transferencia EdTech

We are experts in intellectual property, we can help you license or commercialize your educational technology.

What is Technology Transfer?

It is the process of knowledge transmission between companies or organizations to produce goods and services and generate technological capabilities that ensure better levels of economic efficiency and competitiveness.

In educational institutions, technology transfer is the path that a research outcome must follow to become a product or service that reaches the market and has an impact on society.

What can be transferred?

Technology or any research outcome that is protectable through some mechanism, essentially through intellectual property rights (industrial property and/or copyright), can be transferred.

Understand technology in its broad sense as "a set of instruments, technical resources, or procedures used in a specific field or sector". It does not necessarily have to be digital technology.

Why is it important to transfer?

Academics and researchers at Tecnológico de Monterrey develop science and technology with the potential to improve people's quality of life through products and services that impact the development of the country and the world.

Technology transfer aims to ensure that research outcomes, in addition to impacting the academic community through publications or conferences, are transformed into products or services that enhance people's quality of life. In this context, it is understood that technology transfer can be for profit or nonprofit, depending on the strategy or goals pursued by its creators.

Technology transfer can be carried out through commercial licenses or non-profit use licenses.

What support does Transferencia EdTech offer?

Within Transferencia EdTech at IFE, we provide an internal service to professors and researchers at Tecnológico de Monterrey for developments applied to education, with the following being the most important forms of support and activities:

Intellectual Property Protection

To advise Tecnológico de Monterrey's researchers, collaborators, and other personnel on the design of the best intellectual property protection strategy for their creations or inventions - whether through copyright registrations, invention patents, or industrial secrets, among other modalities - with the aim of generating clear rules and incentives for the transfer and dissemination of results.

Transfer

The EdTech Transfer and Entrepreneurship Department is responsible for assessing the commercial potential of the invention or educational development, as well as seeking possible users or 'early adopters' who may find the educational developments useful or have an interest in them. These 'early adopters' can be companies, non-profit organizations, or public agencies. The purpose of prospecting these entities is to find partners who may be interested in implementing the research results and, as a result, assist in negotiating the terms and subsequently signing a transfer agreement.

How to transfer?

Here is the technology transfer process for any project that needs to be transferred:

Discovery: This is the stage where a project is developed, and innovation is generated.
Documentation: The innovation is identified, along with its results and application advantages.
Evaluation: The potential impact of implementing the discovery is assessed, as well as its effects in practice.
Protection: Intellectual property is generated to ensure that plagiarism does not occur.
Commercialization: This involves marketing the intellectual property, aiming for its implementation and development in a real-world case.
Licensing: An agreement is reached with interested investors to implement the innovation and development.
Development: Once the organization has the license, it puts into practice and develops the research-derived result.
Exploitation: New products or services are marketed in the market, generating returns.

How is a research outcome transferred?

Once suitable partners for the transfer have been found, negotiation with third parties is managed and led, which may result in the signing of a licensing agreement or the creation of a technology-based enterprise (TBE) spin-off .

Spin-off

When a researcher is interested in starting a business based on their technological development, it is possible to create a company that contributes to the transfer of research results in the form of innovative products or services.

Licensing Agreement

It is a document by which the holder of a property right authorizes a third party to exercise the exploitation right, under specified conditions, within a defined time and territory, in exchange for a royalty or not.

General Concepts

Intellectual Property (IP)

Intellectual property protection of research results is a key objective, as it allows for the establishment of clear rules, conditions, and incentives for the transfer and dissemination of research results.

There are various mechanisms to protect inventions. In general terms, an idea is not subject to intellectual property protection; rather, the materialization or embodiment of an idea is protected.

A creation can be protected through one or more of the following mechanisms, depending on the case:

Copyright Patents*
Trademarks
Designs
Plant varieties
Trade secrets
Domain names

^{*In educational developments or technologies, it is the most commonly used mechanism of intellectual property protection.}

Technology Readiness Level (TRL)

TRL stands for 'Technology Readiness Level.' TRL is a scale used to assess the degree of development and maturity of a technology or innovation. It was originally developed by NASA in the 1980s and has since been adopted by various organizations and government agencies to evaluate the progress of technological projects.

It provides a way to assess and communicate the development status of a technology, which helps determine the necessary resources, identify risks, and establish future stages of development. It is also useful for decision-making and funding allocation in research and technological development projects.

Know the maturity level of your project:

Learn more about intellectual property and transfer

EdTech Transfer Process

Are you interested in transferring your educational technology?

Contact us

Sandra Gómez skgomez@tec.mx

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