AUTM Courses
AUTM’s core professional development courses build foundational knowledge and assist you in meeting your goals for capacity building. Our courses can be fully customized to meet the needs of your students.
AUTM Essentials of Academic Technology Transfer Course
The Essentials Course is recommended as the first piece of training as it builds the fundamental skills and
necessary resources to evaluate inventions and negotiate license agreements. The sessions are designed to follow the full K/TT lifecycle: evaluation of invention disclosures, triage, patenting, IP marketing, valuation and license negotiation with established companies and startups. The course employs a mix of instruction, case discussions and small-group interactions for students to maximize their learning and networking opportunities.
AUTM Technology Valuation Course
AUTM’s Technology Valuation Course teaches the fundamental principles of how to construct the financial terms
that go into a license. The course examines concepts such as valuation versus pricing and risk, as well as a series of valuation methodologies, such as cost, income, industry standards (or comparable), rules of thumb and discounted cash flow and equity. The first segment concludes with a review of payment structures within a license and shows the financial flows under a typical academic-stage life sciences license. The course focuses on practical applications using case studies.
If you have, or will have, responsibility for negotiating licenses, or would like to learn more about the process, the Licensing Valuation Course is ideal. Attendees should have a basic familiarity with the structure and payment mechanisms used in a license and be proficient in web searching and Excel spreadsheets.
Fundamentals in Negotiation
This course is the first in a series of related courses, and covers basic licensing negotiation principles,
fundamental negotiation tactics (including negotiation preparation, drafting initial offers, setting internal and external expectations), and the principles of collaborative negotiations. Attendees will learn basic concession techniques such as managing emotions, deadlines and other stakeholders (such as supervisors and inventors). Course material will be immediately applicable to your next negotiation and sets a basis for advanced negotiation classes in this series.
Negotiation Strategies and Tactics
This course builds on the Fundamentals of Negotiation and covers advanced negotiation techniques, including the elements of collaborative and competitive negotiations. Avoiding and surviving competitive negotiation situations are examined, and alternative solutions to commonly negotiated licensing terms (financial and non-financial) are debated. Also explored are techniques for negotiating with faculty and startup companies.
Practical Negotiations
This course covers advanced negotiation techniques, including practical responses to proposed licensing term objections, both financial and non-financial, how to respond to difficult people, communication modalities, negotiating without leverage and firm price contracts. Strategies for team negotiations will also be presented.
Operations Course
This course covers basic and advanced topics in compliance, various types of licensing agreements, disclosures, patent filing strategies, data management and finance issues related to running a technology transfer office.
AUTM Successful Practices in Small TTOs
This course benefits both those interested in starting new K/TT offices and those interested in growing an existing small office. This course teaches attendees how to make the most out of a small office with limited resources. It covers the current regulatory environment and how it affects small offices, and shares successful practices aimed at building strong relationships with stakeholders and innovators.
AUTM Software Course
The AUTM Software Course is designed specifically for university licensing professionals who work with software and other information assets. Ideal for both newcomers and experienced practitioners, the course provides an overview of basic principles and a study of best practices, emerging models and actual cases. Attendees will emerge from the course with the tools to handle both basic and complex software asset management and licensing situations.
AUTM Startup Business Development Course
The Startup Business Development Course is designed to provide participants with the best available methods and insights needed to achieve success at each stage of the startup process. The content of the course is prepared and presented by professionals who have managed numerous startups during their careers. Interactive sessions are included to provide participants an opportunity to practice negotiating and other skills. The course is of interest for those expanding programs to include startup creation.