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Mr. DiMarino is founder and president of Westford Technology Associates. The firm provides technology transfer services and business acquisition/divestiture services in the chemical industry. It also performs business planning and strategy development for businesses in and outside of the chemical industry. In the four-year history of Westford, clients have ranged from small manufacturing firms and dot-coms to mid-sized petroleum refiners and Fortune 100 chemical manufacturers.
Prior to starting Westford, Mr. DiMarino held a range of positions during 33 years at E.I. du Pont de Nemours & Company in business management and development, marketing, and research. These most recent positions included Business Development Manager, Specialty Chemicals; Global Marketing Manager, Performance Chemicals; Business Manager, Performance Chemicals; and Business Manager, Safety & Environmental Services (a for-profit consulting business).
He is an active member of trade associations including the Synthetic Organic Chemical Manufacturers Association, Drug, Chemical, and Allied Trades, the Licensing Executives Society (USA & Canada), and the Executive Service Corps.
Mr. DiMarino holds a Bachelor´s degree in Chemical Engineering from Villanova University and a Master of Science degree from the University of Rochester.
He and his wife, Jean, are long-time residents of Chester and Delaware Counties in Pennsylvania.
Making the Most of Your Corporate Intellectual Assets:
Understanding and Initiating Technology Licensing
Nicholas DiMarino
Westford Technology Associates
Leveraging intellectual assets as a business strategy is a relatively new concept for the corporate world, and companies that have mastered it have found that it is capable of generating substantial income for themselves and their investors. For companies with a history of substantial investment in R & D, a five- to ten-percent boost in annual earnings is possible, but the concept of intellectual assets can be an elusive one. It is often difficult to identify these assets and determine their potential for direct earnings generation, and identifying your company´s intellectual assets is just part of the process. You also need to develop a strategy to manage them, and then a business plan to capitalize on them. It sounds like a daunting task, so how do you start? With the larger picture of intellectual capital -- that intangible but important part of your company that gives it value beyond simple products and services.
Today, the New Economy runs on technology. Companies that learn to develop, manage, and exchange technology will succeed in today´s business environment. Those that mismanage it earn less than they should. Technology is considered part of a company´s intellectual capital, which actually comprises several components including employee experience and knowledge, the ability to innovate, R&D capabilities, and intellectual assets. It´s the intellectual assets we want to leverage, the part of intellectual capital that includes know-how (the capability to create or produce a valuable product or service), patents, trademarks, and copyrights -- the things that enable products or services to have and hold value in the marketplace. The focus should be on the technology, including patents and know-how. This forms the foundation of transferable intellectual properties and rights that enable your company to derive value directly from knowledge.
Whether your interest in Intellectual Asset Management (IAM) is for acquisition of technology to build your business or to derive value by making your technology available for use by another company (technology externalization) -- or both -- you need to take two related steps:
- Determine potential for your company´s IAM activity
- Develop an IAM strategy
A Brief History of Technology Transfer
Universities were among the first to practice technology transfer. By the ´90s it had reached the corporate world. One major licensing success story involved DuPont and the development of the Suva refrigerant replacement for Freon.
Understanding and Initiating Technology Licensing
What sets good licensing practices apart is true technology transfer -- and that depends on appropriate cost allocation. Eastman Global Technology Ventures and Procter & Gamble describe their own licensing successes.
Getting Started: The Six Steps that Lead to a Working Intellectual Assets Business Plan
Whether your company has a vigorous approach to intellectual assets or a timid one, developing an intellectual assets business plan is well worth the time invested. Companies with a substantial investment in R&D may see a five- to ten-percent increase in annual earnings from licensing their technologies. Technology sales and licensing provide solid earnings boosts to many companies and should be considered by any company with valuable intellectual assets.
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