Comstock's magazine 1217 - December 2017 | Page 45

The key tech-transfer steps are the same at UC cam- puses as at an IP powerhouse like Stanford. But while the UC’s licensing guidelines take up 25 pages, Stanford’s less- detailed rules run about five paragraphs. All UC licensing agreements go to the system’s Office of General Counsel or Laboratory Counsel for sign-off; Stanford normally doesn’t require legal approval for its licenses, according to Katha- rine Ku, head of Stanford’s Office of Technology Licensing. Unlike at Stanford, the UC system is also a two-tiered operation, with responsibility for crafting policy resid- ing in the UC president’s office and each campus running its own tech-transfer team. At least one person wonders whether that restricts campus teams’ ability to innovate. “It’s not obvious to me what role the UC plays in encour- aging tech transfer other than making companies jump through the required hurdles,” says Michael Gilson, a UC Davis Foundation trustee and former corporate executive and entrepreneur. It’s unclear how much the design of the UC system af- fects how current and former UC employees seeking a license experience the tech-transfer process. Tom Shapland is a former UC Davis post-doc who took an idea he developed in a school lab and turned it into Tule Technologies, which makes sensors that let farmers irrigate more efficiently. Get- ting from disclosure to a license took 2.5 years, which he says he found frustrating. (Ku says Stanford’s license agree- ments can take as little as a day to finish if both parties agree quickly, though the longest ones can take “years.”) Shapland applauds the work of Venture Catalyst, UC Da- vis’ tech-transfer team, in helping him navigate UC system rules. And the founder of another UC Davis spin-off — for- mer School of Medicine orthopedic surgeon resident Jose Mejia Oneto — said Venture Catalyst was “wonderful in get- ting to a licensing agreement that we both found compelling and appealing.” But for Shapland, the rules were frustrating: The amount of time it took to get the license cost money he didn’t have. Filing the patent and negotiating the license with the uni- versity cost him about $20,000 in lawyer fees, he says. “What [UC Davis staff] told me again and again as a post-doc and then after my post-doc was, ‘Go get investors to put money in, and then you can use that to pay for the fees to get this license.’” But without a license, and thus customers, inves- tors wouldn’t put up the cash. Shapland was lucky — Y Combinator, dubbed “the world’s most powerful startup incubator” by Fast Company We Drive Growth The Greater Sacramento Economic Council is the catalyst for innovative growth strategies in the Capital Region of California. Community Led Business Recruitment and Growth Greater Sacramento works directly with surrounding communities to set and achieve local visions and goals, while building on community strengths and collaborating across sectors. We market the region’s talent, access, and profitability to attract and retain new companies and position the region as an opportunity for existing companies to scale up. [email protected] Improve Competitiveness Job Creation Elevate regional brand Optimize business climate Upgrade infrastructure Develop workforce Advance industry clusters Tel. [phone] We improve competitiveness, acquire new companies, and provide existing businesses opportunities for growth - all with the goal of driving an influx of new jobs to the region. 400 Capitol Mall, Suite 2520 December 2017 | comstocksmag.com 45