East India-US Symposium June 28-July 2
The AUTM Foundation is excited to partner with APIOiX and the US Consulate in Kolkata to host the East India – US Symposium on Intellectual Property Rights.
Registration open now! Join us June 28-29 and July 1-2, 2019 at the Westin Kolkata for the East India—United States Symposium on Intellectual Property Rights.
The AUTM Foundation is excited to partner with APIOiX and the US Consulate in Kolkata to host the East India – US Symposium on Intellectual Property Rights.
The Symposium consists of two 2-day workshops: one for intellectual property practitioners in academia and law, and a second for local and regional entrepreneurs and businesses. It is rooted in a mandate to understand intellectual property rights (IPR) challenges and best practices, expand innovation and entrepreneurial activity in India, and connect Indian and US businesses
APIOiX Adds Directors
Apio is pleased to announce that Michael Batalia and Ray Wheatley have accepted appointments as directors in 2018. Their years of experience in technology transfer, innovation management, and entrepreneurship add to Apio’s suite of management expertise.
Ray, Arun, and Michael
APIOiX Receives Grant for Kolkata Workshops
APIOiX is headed to India this spring to conduct Intellectual Property Rights training in Kolkata under a grant from the U.S. Department of State.
The American Centre in Kolkata
APIOiX is headed to India this spring to conduct Intellectual Property Rights training in Kolkata under a grant from the U.S. Department of State. The program aims to increase understanding of intellectual property rights issues in East India, and to raise awareness of value of filing for IP protection in the U.S. The program will be conducted as a pilot project with the AUTM Foundation.
Return to Riyadh and Visit to VISTEC in Hanoi
March and April were heavy travel months for the APIOiX crew. First up, a return to Riyadh where we helped coordinate a conference for the King Salman Institute for Entrepreneurship at King Saud University.
March and April were heavy travel months for the APIOiX crew. First up, a return to Riyadh where we helped coordinate a conference for the King Salman Institute for Entrepreneurship at King Saud University.
Apio brought together twelve speakers from three countries to present keynote lectures and training courses for inventors, faculty, students, and entrepreneurs.
Yahya Al-Harthi, John Bial, Kristin, and Arun
Yahya, Ray Wheatley, Arun, Cameron McCoy, and Michael Batalia
Keynotes were delivered by David Frazee, a Silicon Valley high tech strategist and managing director of Richmond Global Ventures, and Michael Batalia, CEO of Wide Eyed Technologies and member of the Perlan Project Mission II Team.
April saw a visit to VISTEC, a division of the Vietnam Ministry of Science and Technology, Hanoi. It was a great meeting and we look forward to the opportunity to collaborate on projects.
Ray, Kristin, Arun, and our translator Thanh meet with Director Tran, Deputy Director Trinh and their team at VISTEC
Arun's TEDx: Technology Transfer and the Liberal Arts
We promised the link months ago, and here it is - finally!
We promised the link months ago, and here it is - finally!
Survive and Thrive in Five
We've survived five years - and grown. To mark the occasion Apio Partners has become Apio Innovation Transfer - APIOiX for short. As we close 2017 we note some of the successes of the past year:
Apio Turns Five!
We've survived five years - and grown. To mark the occasion Apio Partners has become Apio Innovation Transfer - APIOiX for short. As we close 2017 we note some of the successes of the past year:
Apio founder, Arundeep Pradhan, was invited to give a TEDx talk in Tucson. (We'll post the talk when the TED organization has the link ready.)
We welcomed two new principals, Ray Wheatley and Christopher Noble.
Three of our principals - Kristin, Arundeep, and Ray - presented a multi-day course for the U.S. Patent & Trademark Office Global Intellectual Property Academy as part of their efforts for the Association of University Technology Managers (AUTM).
Kristin and Arundeep created and presented a new series of researcher and technology transfer professional training courses for the Chinese Academy of Sciences in Beijing.
Apio principal Ray Wheatley was invited to present at the Polish Patent Office Symposium.
Arundeep served as expert witness in the matter Roe v Baylor Research Institute, helping obtain a $7.75 million jury verdict in favor of Roe.
2016 ASBAR World Forum (Dec 6-8) highlights
Opening Ceremony
Arun attended and participated in the ASBAR World Forum on the Transitioning to a Knowledge Economy. The focus of the forum was on strategies and tactics on capacity building in universities and industry providing a high level understanding of issues associated with transitioning the Kingdom's oil-based economy to a knowledge-based economy, reducing these issues into manageable and actionable tasks, and providing processes and methods to execute strategies to achieve the objectives of the Vision 2030 Plan.
Visiting Riyadh was an eye-opening experience. About a third of the participants were women, and several women entrepreneurs gave presentations. Arun found out that it is easier for women entrepreneurs to open a business and secure financing from the government than it is for men (a good start). There was incredible energy and a desire to make things happen to achieve the Vision 2030 objectives from the ministers to the citizens. The most valuable part, as it tends to be, were the informal discussions that happened during breaks and meals.
The Forum consisted of panel discussions and workshops, and was extremely well attended. There was considerable discussion about creating innovation ecosystems, ways to fund and nurture knowledge creation and innovation, roles of various stakeholders, and the infrastructure required. The speakers and participants agreed that transition efforts should be on multiple fronts such as attracting multinational corporations to build R&D facilities, the need to increase university-industry collaborations, partnerships between academia, government and industry (AGI initiatives), and instituting policies, laws and regulations that incentivize these activities. The strategies included were investing in research, entrepreneur focused education and mentoring, creating SBIR and STTR type programs, greater communication between the stakeholders, and creating prototyping and light manufacturing facilities. And, as we found there are already some efforts underway to build or enhance innovation centers within universities and engage in entrepreneurial activities. There are however some barriers which are being addressed such as culture in universities and industry, skills and training of technology transfer professionals, and an undeveloped innovation ecosystem to support and sustain startup companies.
Highlights of the Forum included the inauguration and awards by Prince Fasial bin Bandar, Governor of Riyadh. In addition, there were ex-ministers, ministers and deputy ministers representing government, and CEOs and vice presidents of corporations who participated in the discussion panels along with incredible speakers from around the world. The panel discussions promoted a great deal of dialog between universities, government, and industry. Arun was on a panel that discussed how universities and state or regional governments can work together and the impact of those collaborative efforts, a workshop on the role of a university in the knowledge economy, and a keynote address on building capacity for academic technology transfer.
The Forum surpassed all expectations and positive comments from the attendees indicating a desire for more events of this nature. Working with Dr. Yahya Al-Harthi to put the program together and recruit the international speakers was a great experience, and we hope to repeat our efforts next year.
Second IP Monetization and Commercialization Forum
Opening of the Forum
Towards the end of June, I was invited to participate in the Second IP Monetization and Commercialization Forum, organized by WOTIP and held in Suzhou, China. This was followed by partnering meeting in Guangzhou. I got to work directly with the individuals at WOTIP, who were phenomenal and a pleasure to work with. The forum itself was successful and well attended. And, you could tell that the Chinese business community and the regional governments are seriously committed (take a look at the declaration) to technology based economic development. It is clear that there is an increased respect and appreciation for intellectual property rights. This could not be more evident based on the discussions we had in the forum and off-line during breaks and meals.
Probably the biggest round dining table I have ever seen.
Meeting with and eating meals with Boon Xie, the president of WOTIP; QuFu Tian, Mayor of Suzhou; Xu Gang, CEO NHCCD, Zhou Jianhui,Deputy District Chieg and Xie Qiang Director of Government Affairs at NHCCD; Huang Ji, Director of the Science & Technology Bureau; Zhi Suping, Director General of the Intellectual Property Office of Jiangsu Province; Edmont Rao, Vice President WOTIP, and others was a great experience. It exposed us to many different delicacies of the region and introduced us to the tradition of going around the table to toast your guests. A great way to establish ties and make friends and have dinner at one of the oldest restaurants in the city (over 200 years old).
BioBay in Suzhou
As part of the forum, we toured the BioBay and BioTop facilities in Suzhou where we met with companies and researchers, and gained a better understanding of the types of facilities and resources that are being dedicated to the efforts of transitioning the economy. The facilities included state-of-the-art labs and small animal facilities as well as facilities and companies to help startups develop drugs, from modeling to pilot scale manufacturing. All quite impressive.
Guangzhou
The last two days were spent in Guangzhou, where WOTIP is headquartered. WOTIP arranged partnering meetings for technologies that had been provided to them. I had the opportunity to meet with three companies and discuss some technologies in detail, which hopefully would result in some licenses. We had dinner with Amy Chan, Co-founder and Director of WOTIP and were again treated to wonderful cuisine which was very different than that we had in Suzhou.
What I learned from all of this, is that while there is a huge desire and hunger for technology, the level of understanding how universities in the US and EU operate is growing; that, there is a an increasing respect for intellectual property rights; there are many opportunities for entrepreneurs (especially of Chinese heritage); and, just like anywhere else, if you connect with the right people, doing business is relatively easy. WOTIP and Apio now have a relationship to assist each other in their respective efforts to source technologies and find licensees.
Apio will be attending the 2016 AUTM meeting in San Diego
We are excited to attend the AUTM meeting after launching our new website. We hope to see you at the meeting, either are the exhibitors section of the partnering section. Stop by the Inteum booth.
Arun is presenting in workshop G5: Drug Discovery and Development Primer for More Effective Technology Commercialization. And Kristin is moderating session E7: Marketing and Communication.