Competitive Intelligence Tools for University-Based Technology Transfer Offices

University based technology transfer offices function to identify, protect, and market new technologies all of which require strategic decisions about technology developed at their institutions. Often, limited time and resources are available for pursuing patent protection and identifying commercial partners for licensing. Therefore, determining which technologies have high probabilities for commercial success is necessary. The collection of data regarding the market, referred to as competitive intelligence, helps to make these decisions. In this article we discuss sources for competitive intelligence, provide an evaluation of compiled competitive intelligence platforms from commercial vendors, and discuss approaches for evaluating them.