Mini-Mag - January 2018

ISSUE

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EXECUTIVE EDITOR

Jenny Servo, Ph.D.

MANAGING EDITOR

Julie S. Krull

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DESIGNER

Annie Browar

This mini-mag is a companion to the Phase III magazine that Dawnbreaker has produced since 2008. We felt that another publication that shared information regarding the Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) program would help those who aspire to Phase III commercialization success. As Commercialization is also a metric of success for organizations involved with technology transfer, topics of interest to universities and federal labs will also be included.

FEATURES

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INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY

FINDING MARKET INFORMATION

LOOKING FOR PARTNERS

How Do You Know If Your IP is Hot?

Market Snapshot: BigData

Game-Changing Technologies for Shale Gas Recovery

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ENTREPRENEURS

SUCCESS STORY

Female and Minority Entrepreneurs: A Record Year

Daniel H. Wagner Associates, Inc. Where are They Now?

CURRENT SBIR SOLICITATIONS

DoD

DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE

DoD SBIR 2018.1 DoD STTR 2018.A

DHS

DEPARTMENT OF HOMELAND SECURITY

DHS SBIR FY18

NASA

NATIONAL AERONAUTICS AND SPACE ADMINISTRATION

NASA SBIR 2018 Phase 1 solicitation

DAWNBREAKER®

NOAA

NATIONAL OCEANIC AND ATMOSPHERIC ADMINISTRATION

NOAA SBIR FY18

IN TE LL ECTUAL PROPERTY

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MINI-MAG

How Do You Know

If Your IP is Hot? While

it may be difficult to quantify the exact value of Intellectual Property (IP), most large companies, whether academic or industrial, will agree that a broad portfolio of IP is what sets great companies apart from the rest. Some companies abide by the old “more is better� mentality, and make it a numbers game especially with visible assets such as patents. The more patents you can get, the better. Others take a more focused approach, and only patent those innovations that have a defined route to commercialization. Whatever the corporate culture, members of the organization are always encouraged to come up with fresh new ideas, with the goal of developing IP and eventually market success.

Federal agencies are no different, and realize the positive implications of turning their IP into a commercial success. The Federal Laboratory Consortium (FLC) is a nationwide network of over 300 federal laboratories, agencies, and research centers. Within these Federal Labs are Technology Transfer Offices, each with a goal of moving technology from out of the labs and into the marketplace. But let’s take a step back. Far before commercialization, one must assess whether patenting a technology, and maintaining that patent, is worth the cost. With the help of Richard Smerbeck, Business Acceleration Manager at Dawnbreaker, and Marty Oehlbeck, Managing Director of Intellectual Portfolio, LLC., we will take a brief look at the pros and cons of turning an idea into a patent, and how to best determine if your IP is strong enough to achieve the ultimate goal of commercial success.

BY JULIE S. KRULL MINI-MAG

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Smerbeck, who previously served as the erything just to keep anybody else from Vice President of Global Pharmaceuticals gaining an edge.

R&D at Bausch & Lomb, spoke of one of the most common reasons to seek a pat- “In my experience, what we would not do ent. “It takes an extremely long time to is value a discovery based solely on the develop a drug or medical device. Nobody innovation or uniqueness,” says Smeris going to put $200 million into a technol- beck. “There could be a very patentable ogy if somebody can copy your technology. manufacturing process that we would not Patenting is ultimately how you maintain patent because it would be impossible to and protect your revenue stream.” prove somebody infringed upon it.”

That protection doesn’t come cheap. A patent application and a Freedom to Operate (FTO) opinion might set one back $30,000. Then there is the decision on the nations within which to file. Each will require a separate fee, so deciding on where to file is a key consideration. Smerbeck recommends filing wherever you may have a large potential market share, and/or in countries where you have competitors. Keeping the patent in force by paying maintenance fees is another item the IP owner must also consider periodically during the life of the patent.

“By the time a company has filed for and received a patent, they’ve already expended a great deal of resources both financially and legally, in addition to research and time,” explains Oehlbeck, who also serves on the Tech Transfer team at Dawnbreaker. “Organizations might do a periodic review of issued patents and related assets. Or they may maintain the patent just to be sure that critical opportunities are being pursued aggressively.”

He added, “progressive organizations are looking proactively at the front end of their innovation process to select and advance key ideas aligned with their business model.”

The process by which organizations follow to determine if its intellectual property has the potential to create significant value for the company varies widely.

Some companies value IP based on their mission statement – was the IP in an area in which they wanted to commercialize technology? Others look at the competition; some companies want to patent ev4

MINI-MAG

Oehlbeck agrees. “It is estimated that eighty percent of an organization’s value lies in trade secrets. Many of these are not patentable. If a trade secret is not discernable in the end product, and nobody can reproduce it, there’s no need to patent it as patents teach a great deal. That’s why we don’t usually recommend patenting software-based algorithms.”

Both experts agree your IP is only as strong as your will to enforce your exclusive right to it. If you have a patent, and aren’t willing to take somebody to court who infringes on it, then the IP is not that valuable. Also, ask yourself – is it the technology you want to protect, or the design? Apple, for example, placed a design patent on its iPhone, and effectively served as blocking IP in the market for rectangular-shaped, slightly-rounded edged smart phones.

they invent and/or patent a technology, they have to make it available through a license, Cooperative Research and Development Agreement (CRADA) or outright sale. A key part of this process is determining the commercial potential of the IP, much like a small business would do.

It should answer the questions – Who is interested? Who should I approach? How am I going to go about doing this? Dawnbreaker’s newest venture is its Tech Transfer Services, and we are aiming to help the federal labs answer these very questions and effectively evaluate their technologies by offering six key services that provide an independent perspective on operations: 1. Auditing TTO processes 2. Evaluating technologies on the likelihood of licensure 3. Commercialization Assistance 4. Determining best model for Return on Investment 5. Licensee Identification 6. Deal Assistance

At the end of the day, any sought-after solution that addresses a large, unfulfilled need is a good candidate for a patent.

With the first to file rule, as the name suggests, whoever files the patent first, has priority on the IP. Having the earliest priority date is critical to protecting your IP, as part of the patenting process involves publishing your patent application before any IP rights are granted. The earliest priority date (filing date) establishes your primacy to IP protection to the world.

Taking the leap into commercialization or monetization of your IP is the ultimate goal of any organization or individual with a novel technology. In fact, every federal lab is under obligation to transfer technology to the public. Therefore, whenever

For more information

Rich Smerbeck 585.617.9484 rsmerbeck@dawnbreaker.com

FINDIN G M ARKET IN FO RM AT IO N

| Market Snapshot |

BigData Technologies

BY ELIZA GOUGH

MINI-MAG

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The term big data or “BigData” may seem like an overly simplistic term to describe large, complex data streams generated through almost every facet of our daily lives – these data streams have reached a point where legacy or incumbent data processing application software may be incapable of handling them. BigData and the challenges associated with this topic are also linked to such digital trends and movements as the Internet of Things (IoT), artificial intelligence (AI), and more traditional data science. BigData has become the ultimate, ‘the more you know’ tool.

Frost & Sullivan provides coverage on many sectors of this growing market, including Big Data Analytics. Frost & Sullivan defines Big Data analytics (BDA) as a set of data management tools, applications, and techniques for effective analysis of Big Data sets so as to derive intelligence on business operations and customer interactions. With this influx of new information comes new regarding issues of privacy and security, as well as data 6

MINI-MAG

discrimination. According to MarketsandMarkets, the digital transformation market was valued at $181.02 Billion in 2016 and is projected to reach $493.39 Billion by 2022, at a Compound Annual Growth Rate (CAGR) of 19.1% during the forecast period. It goes on to report that the big data market is forecast to grow from $28.65 Billion in 2016 to $66.79 Billion by 2021, at a CAGR of 18.45%. BCC Research sheds light on many of the sectors impacted by the digital transformation and the usage of BigData. For example, BCC Research reports that the global market for the internet of things (IoT) in energy and utility applications should reach $59.9 billion by 2022 from $21.4 billion in 2017 at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 22.9%, from 2017 to 2022. In terms of IoT discrete parts manufacturing, BCC Research values this market, which includes three main components - hardware, software and networking and five subsets of the discrete parts market: automotive and transportation; electronics and computer; consumer goods; aerospace, aviation and

defense; and machinery and heavy equipment at $643.9 million in 2016 and is expected to grow to $2.8 billion by 2022.

Big data is a big deal within the Federal government, and its R&D initiatives. The Big Data Interagency Working Group (BD IWG) works in this area and published the Federal Big Data Research and Development Strategic Plan in May 2016. The Department of Energy (DOE) provides information on Open Data initiatives and is partnering with the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) to focus on the secure analysis of large digital health and genomic data. NIST is also a major player in Big Data with several initiatives and its Big Data Public Working Group.

Need more? The IEEE International Conference on Big Data is scheduled to take place in Boston, MA in December 2017, a summary of the 2016 symposium is available online.

LO O KIN G FO R PART NER S

SHALE GAS RECOVERY GAME-CHANGING TECHNOLOGIES FOR

BY JENNY C. SERVO, PH.D. MINI-MAG

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VT NH NY

MA CT

MI

RI

PA NJ OH

DC

IN

WV

DE

VA

KY

NC KY

Five

companies dominate the natural gas extraction business from the Marcellus Shale region - including Range Resources, EQT, Rice Energy, Chevron and CONSOL Energy. The Marcellus shale extends from Upstate New York through West Virginia and is considered to hold enough natural gas to meet the entire natural gas needs of the U.S for at least 20 years. The growth of natural gas extraction, also referred to as fracking was made possible by improvements in horizontal drilling and hydraulic fracturing, much of which was funded by the Department of Energy (DOE).

Between 1978 and 1992 DOE invested $137 million to demonstrate and commercialize some of the technologies currently used including directional drilling, microseismic monitoring of multi-stage hydraulic fracturing and modeling.

However, these advances have also had a negative impact on human health. As a result, today the Office of Fossil Energy (FE) located at the National Energy Technology Laboratory (NETL) leads the research to address the following areas: »» Water quality and availability »» Induced seismicity »» Methane emissions »» Subsurface science »» Footprint reduction and »» Transportation and storage

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PHASE III MINI-MAG

Of the five companies that extract natural gas from the Marcellus Shale region, Range Resources has the largest holding with 749 active wells (2016) in more than one million leased acres. The company’s profitability increased in 2017 due to extending the length of its laterals from an average of 6,171 in 2016 to 11,700 feet in 2017. EQT, also a publicly-traded firm has just completed the purchase of Rice Energy – both of which have leased holdings in the Marcellus Shale region. The transaction was completed on November 13, 2017. In 2016, EQT had 402 active wells and with the purchase of Rice Energy will add another 137.

Chevron holds approximately 472,000 net acres in that Marcellus Shalea region. In September, 2017 Chevron announced a partnership with People’s Natural Gas to map out Pennsylvania’s $60B future which will involve the Marcellus Shale and Utica shale markets. Completing the overview of the top five gas extraction businesses in this region - CONSOL Energy announced on August 2, 2017 that it will sell its Marcellus and Utica shale assets and split CONSOL into two companies – a coal and a natural gas company.

The coal company will retain the name CONSOL Energy, while the natural gas business will become CNX Resources Corporation.

Clearly, small businesses working on innovations intended to have a game-changing impact on advanced shale gas recovery technologies for horizontal wells will be entering a highly dynamic environment.

ENT REPREN EUR S

A Record Year Female and Minority Entrepreneurs:

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omen now make up 40 percent of new entrepreneurs in the United States according to the 2017 Kauffman Index of Startup Activity – National Trends. The Index also reflects a longer-term trend showing rising Latino rates of entrepreneurship and a growing share of the total U.S. population - the Latino share of all new entrepreneurs rose from 10 percent in 1996 to 24 percent in 2016. The Asian share of new entrepreneurs also rose substantially from 1996 to 2016, from 3 percent to 8 percent. The Caucasian share of new entrepreneurs declined over the past eighteen years, whereas the African American share increased slightly.

40% 24% 8% 8% Women Entrepreneurs

Latino Entrepreneurs

Asian Entrepreneurs

Caucasian Entrepreneurs

Despite the success and the recent rise of women and minorityowned entrepreneurs across the nation, many of these companies still can't find the funding they need. More than 72 percent of women entrepreneurs cited lack of access to capital was a challenge in a recent survey by the Kauffman Foundation. The federal Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) program has made it a goal to increase outreach to women and minority-owned small businesses and those within underrepresented states. As such, many state level and Phase 0 programs are available to applicants with the goal of increasing the number of high impact SBIR/STTR proposals from these groups. To check out resources available in your state, check out the home page of sbir.gov and scroll down to see state resources.

BY JULIE S. KRULL

MINI-MAG PHASE III

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U.S. Navy Photo by Petty Officer 2nd Class William Jenkins/Released)

| Success Story |

| D A N I E L H . W A G N E R A S S O C I AT E S , I N C . |

BY JULIE S. KRULL

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MINI-MAG

S UCC ES S S T O RY

The Small Business Innovation Research The Pennsylvania and Virginia-based ning. Today, the team at Wagner has com(SBIR) program today is a highly compet- small business works in two main sec- pleted an upgrade to the ASW that allows itive and sought-after form of government tors: Distributed Data Fusion and Optimal the system to link up multiple helicopters funding with plenty of small businesses Mission Planning. The Navy has imple- and ships working together. This upgradvying for a piece of the $2.5 billion pie. mented Wagner’s Acoustic Mission Plan- ed system has seen worldwide demand, When it was first launched in 1982 how- ner (AMP), that leveraged multiple SBIR and foreign military sales are increasing ever, nobody quite anticipated the impact projects, on all of the fleet’s 286 MH-60R for the company. it would have on government and industry “Romeo” anti-submarine warfare (ASW) alike. Daniel H. Wagner Associates was an helicopters, and in foreign military sales “The Navy and the Marines are interested early believer in SBIR. (FMS) MH-60Rs. in using autonomous boats within ‘dull, dirty, dangerous’ environments,” says Dr. “All of our technology evolved from SBIR,” Monach. “And if more than one boat is says Dr. W. Reynolds Monach, Vice Presineeded, you have to share a picture and OVER dent of Wagner Associates and Hampyou have to have cooperative autonomy, ton, VA Office Manager. “Without it, we so everyone sees the same things and can wouldn’t be where we are today.” act intelligently and effectively together.”

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Earning its first SBIR award from the National Science Foundation in 1983, the company soon leaarned it could satisfy critical government needs while funding its own technology development that would one day make them a premier government contractor. In 1987, Wagner won its first Navy SBIR award; one that would launch decades of innovation and solutions used by the fleet to save dollars and most importantly, lives.

MILLION Phase III Revenue in Defense Contracts

All of our technology evolved from SBIR. Without it, we wouldn’t be where we are today.

As part of their SBIR projects, Daniel H. Wagner signed on to the Navy Transition Assistance Program (TAP) back in 2000, in hopes of getting in front of the right people. Since then, they have presented at 17 Navy Opportunity Forums and successfully integrated their SBIR-funded technologies into the fleet.

“AMP gets all relevant data from the helicopter and uses this data to estimate “What the TAP did was allow us to expose where the target submarine is likely to be technology to a very relevant audience,” located and to recommend optimal use says Dr. Monach. “People who attend these of the MH-60R sensors,” says Dr. Monach. shows, from members of the military, to “In addition, AMP calculates how likely you Navy personnel to contractors are the ideal are to detect the submarine target.” audience with their technical knowledge.

The other benefit was the materials prepa- Since the original AMP SBIR project, the ration and formulating a marketing plan.” technology has been supported by Lockheed Martin and NAVAIR, and Wagner Designing and implementing intricate Associates has received contracts worth mathematical algorithms that are ulti- $10 million. Similar Mission Planning almately used by the warfighter to better gorithms are used in the Navy’s Undersea perform their missions is at the core of all Warfare Decision Support System (USWof Wagner’s SBIR technologies.

DSS) for coordinated ASW mission plan-

In a related SBIR success, Wagner’s Data Fusion Engine (DFEN) was used to generate a Common Operational Picture across five Autonomous Surface Vehicles (ASV) based on sensor data from each ASV, during an ONR Swarm demonstration on the James River in August 2014, and in a follow-on Swarm demonstration in September/October 2016. DFEN also associates and fuses acoustic and non-acoustic data in USW-DSS. Looking to the future, Wagner wants to continue its work in the autonomous vehicle industry, developing technologies that will ultimately save lives and shield personnel from harm.

As for utilizing SBIR dollars, Daniel H. Wagner has no intentions of stopping. Thanks to ongoing project with the Department of Defense and NASA, the company is continuing its trademark business model of transitioning its technology to the U.S. government and commercial customers.

Daniel H. Wagner Associates, Inc. 559 W. Uwchlan Ave. Suite 140 Exton, PA 19341 www.wagner.com

MINI-MAG

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Technology Transfer DOD

/

DOE

/

NASA

Dawnbreaker has officially launched its Tech Transfer Services, aimed at helping federal labs to evaluate their technologies by offering key services that provide an independent perspective on operations.

Trying to Decide Where to Focus Your Resources?

New in the job – looking to assure that your tech transfer process fits your organization’s culture and objectives? Is your challenge maximizing the return on your organization’s R&D investments?

Irrespective of where your interest lie, Dawnbreaker’s Tech Transfer Team stands ready to address your needs through six core services.

Contact Us Today.

Dawnbreaker® 585.594.0025 dawnbreakertto.com

Lyn Barnett 585.617.9493 lbarnett@dawnbreaker.com

Technology Transfer DOD

/

DOE

/

NASA

Dawnbreaker has officially launched its Tech Transfer Services, aimed at helping federal labs to evaluate their technologies by offering key services that provide an independent perspective on operations.

Trying to Decide Where to Focus Your Resources?

New in the job – looking to assure that your tech transfer process fits your organization’s culture and objectives? Is your challenge maximizing the return on your organization’s R&D investments? Irrespective of where your interest lie, Dawnbreaker’s Tech Transfer Team stands ready to address your needs through six core services.

Contact Us Today.

Dawnbreaker® 585.594.0025 dawnbreakertto.com

Lyn Barnett 585.617.9493 lbarnett@dawnbreaker.com