mintt modules & workshops

By Alberto Di Consiglio

IP issues have entered the agendas of strategic management in industry at large, while being previously handled by specialists in the periphery of management attention. As a result, there are often missing links between IP strategies and business strategies. This lecture presents a conceptual framework for IP-strategies linked to technology strategies and possible business strategies for all-in-one strategic management, to ultimately build up the total value of an IP portfolio as part of the company’s intellectual capital.

By Andrea Crottini & Mauro Lattuada

Transferring new technologies and bright inventions to impact society is an important mission of the university. As an inventor, having contributed to such technologies and inventions is a great achievement. Licensing them to industry and startups opens the path to the market and is an absolute reward for innovators.

This module focuses on licensing, the most common way to transfer technologies. It is a very interactive module combining case studies and examples to illustrate the essential components of the license agreement. It also aims to provide a basis for licensing negotiations.

By Adam Swetloff & Ghislain Singla

This workshop dissects the basic conditions of EPFL’s start-up licence using examples and provides the students the opportunity to put theory into practice through an interactive game of licence negotiation. 

By Natalia Giovannini and Eliav Haskal

Dr. Eliav Haskal is the Innovation and Knowledge Transfer Manager for the Swiss National Competence Center for Research (NCCR) in Bio-Inspired Materials since November, 2014. In this role, based at the University of Fribourg, Switzerland, with main partners EPFL and ETHZ, he is tasked with valorizing the research done in the NCCR through industrial collaborations, patent licensing, and startup creation.  He is currently coaching and angel-investing in multiple seed-stage startups. 

Before joining the University of Fribourg, he spent twenty years in industrial research as a scientist at IBM Research Zurich and Philips Research, where he was the Director of Strategic Partnerships at Philips Research.  In this role, he managed global cooperative and open innovation projects with companies, universities and governments related to Philips Lighting in all market segments. 

Dr. Haskal obtained his Ph.D. in Electrical Engineering/Electrophysics from the University of Southern California while studying at Princeton University. Dr. Haskal has filed more than 25 patents, has participated in over 40 scientific publications, and speaks eight languages. He also teaches a course on Innovation at the School of Management Fribourg (HEG-FR).

By Natalia Giovannini, Alberto Di Consiglio, Adam Swetloff and Gilles Pfend

In this session, we will explore the role and importance of data in life science patents to understand why having good data is critical and how this should fit in an IP strategy. We will first explore the underlying IP concepts relevant to data. Following this, you will be divided into small teams and apply these principles to real-world case studies in an interactive session. We will conclude with a summary of the key concepts learned and will highlight some best practices points. By the end of the session you will have a good understanding about key IP concepts including: the role of data, plausibility and sufficiency. 

By Mauro Lattuada & Thomas Bourgeau

Software is both an essential working tool for researchers as well an important intellectual property asset for companies. In this workshop, we will introduce the basic concepts of intellectual property matters related to software, discuss the fundamentals of a software license and introduce the most common open source licenses. The main business models related to software commercialization will be also presented and discussed. Participants will work on a case study which will illustrate a typical situation which they may encounter in their research and development activities.

By Alberto Di Consiglio

A workshop on patent matters will be presented by an industrial intellectual property expert. This workshop will address practical and business-related issues and will involve the active participation of the class.

By Andrea Crottini & Ghislain Singla

What is an IP asset? Which are the concepts of IP value? How to perform a patent valuation? Which methods are used? Participants to this module will be able to acquire the fundamental concepts and apply them in one case study.

By Bea Arnold, Mauro Lattuada

Jacqueline Ruedin Rüsch, Founding General Partner of Privilège Ventures

Mahmoud Hadad, Founder and CEO of Inergio

In its lifespan a startup will usually undergo one or more investment rounds.

This module presents different financing alternatives with a focus on Venture Capital Investment.

It gives an overview about the funding process (from evaluation till agreement signature) and about roles and responsibilities of the parties (startup, investors, Board) once the deal has been finalized.

It suggests hints on how entrepreneurs can best benefit from the expertise and experience of the funding entities.

By Mauro Lattuada