foliodirect spoke recently with Gail Dykstra and Lisa Heinz from UW’s TechTransfer Digital Ventures unit about UW TechTransfer’s experience as a member of foliodirect.  Digital Ventures is the software and digital media licensing arm of the University of Washington’s technology-transfer office.

Ms. Dykstra is a Software Licensing Officer responsible for managing intellectual property rights and creating commercialization opportunities for digital media, databases and software materials created by researchers at UW.  Ms. Dykstra received her master’s degree in Library and Information Science from UW and has a background in publishing, software and competitive intelligence, and product development in the information and software industries and public-interest sector.  She has been a consultant in digital rights and product development, a Research Manager in Information Services at Microsoft Corporation, a Director of Content and Business Development at Micromedia Limited and a Senior Director of Research and Programs for the Canadian Law Information Council.

As Contract Manager at UW TechTransfer’s Digital Ventures unit, Ms. Heinz is responsible for monitoring compliance and invoicing license agreements, legal docketing for IP, managing the Computing and Communications trademark portfolio and managing the Digital Ventures’ office.  Ms. Heinz received her bachelor’s degree in Anthropology from UW.

What has been the value of foliodirect to UW TechTransfer?
Ms. Dykstra explained that UW TechTransfer enters into many thousands of licenses a year.  Some licenses cover high-value software and information products that require individual negotiation and time to transact.  The unit also has express licenses for  software and digital media that are self-service license agreements with standard terms and published schedules of fees.  Express licenses require no negotiation and use agreement templates with  preset terms and conditions.  Then, there’s foliodirect, which is used  for those technologies that have a widespread market, have low license fees, and can be licensed quickly through credit card transactions.  “foliodirect has been a boon for UW TechTransfer,” she said, “because it is an excellent distribution channel for high-volume, low-fee licensing. It is another market-sensitive method for extending the reach of our technologies to the general public.”  Ms. Dykstra gave the following example of foliodirect’s flexibility and agility to illustrate her point:

In the middle of finalizing a transaction for a multi-year licensing arrangement with a large federal government agency, there was a problem processing payment with the agency’s credit card.  The window of opportunity for solving this problem literally came down to an hour.  The stakes were high for UW TechTransfer—failure to solve the problem would have meant losing the window of opportunity for the multi-year licensing deal.  A call to foliodirect’s technical support team saved the day.  The team was able to quickly set up payment through foliodirect.   Ms. Dykstra enthusiastically stated that foliodirect provided “super service and tech support to us.  Most of our processing problems are user errors and we don’t have the staff to solve these kinds of technical problems.  Having foliodirect really helps us in providing support and, conversely, in giving great service to our customers.”

How have your customers responded to foliodirect?
Ms. Heinz commented that her unit has had very little interaction with customers who purchase items from foliodirect.  “And that’s a good thing!” she added.  “We haven’t received any customer complaints and I think this is a real credit to the quality of the program.  foliodirect has processed in excess of 1,250 transactions for us this year.  I don’t have to enter these transactions in my database and foliodirect sends me a check once a quarter. It is such a simple process for me.” 

What kinds of products does UW TechTransfer sell through foliodirect? 
Right now the Digital Ventures unit sells licenses for 16 products ranging in price from $12 to $2500.  Ms. Dykstra highlighted three products as examples of how foliodirect helps her unit distribute those technologies which are high-volume, low license fee products.

LegSim
LegSim is a virtual legislature that allows students to organize and operate their own legislature by using a web browser in conjunction with traditional course materials.  It is designed for use in college classes on American government and was developed by Dr. John Wilkerson at UW.  The software is now purchased by students across the U.S. as well as overseas in Germany and England.  LegSim has been purchased for just $12 by approximately 1,200 college students.  Without foliodirect’s credit-card payment option, UW TechTransfer would not be able to quickly process these licenses.  The ease of transaction by credit card has been especially valuable for the foreign students buying this courseware.  LegSim was the first offering UW made available for credit-card payments via STC's web platforms.

Radiology Case Reports
Radiology Case Reports is another UW TechTransfer product offered on foliodirect.  Radiology Case Reports is an open-access, peer-reviewed journal of case reports published online and available electronically to radiologists all over the country who are associated with leading hospitals and medical schools.  Radiologists submit case reports to the online journal for peer-review and, if accepted by the editorial board of the journal, for publication. The publication fee is $350.  Radiology Case Reports has had 35 transactions/submittals through foliodirect since its inception in 2006. 

Spirometry Fundamentals is a training tool (CD ROM) for medical office personnel and was developed by researchers at the University of Washington Child Health Institute with CDC funding. The program demonstrates how to consistently perform a spirometry test, which gauges a patient’s pulmonary function by measuring the volume and flow of breath.  Even though the unit has distribution agreements with major pharmaceuticals, foliodirect provides a way to make this program available to individual doctors and medical personnel at just $60 per CD.  Sales for Spirometry Fundamentals on foliodirect have grown by 25% over two years. 

How does UW TechTransfer market foliodirect to the UW community?
Ms. Dykstra explained that information about the foliodirect program is included in the commercialization and distribution discussions UW TechTransfer has with UW principal investigators on their technologies. “It’s really a part of the revenue and royalty management agreement discussions we have with the PI,” she said.  She stated that UW TechTransfer has found this to be the most useful approach to advertising the commercialization channel offered through foliodirect.

How will increasing membership in foliodirect benefit current members?
“The more the merrier!” Ms. Dykstra quipped.  On a more serious note, she stated that foliodirect members can learn from each other.  Having more university technology- transfer offices join the program will help make the foliodirect platforms more responsive to the customers.  The aggregation of technologies available to individuals will be even greater, extending the reach of university technologies to the public at large.  “foliodirect has created an easy way for us to get these technologies into the hands of college students, federal government employees, researchers and radiologists,” she said. 

If you were recommending membership in foliodirect to another university technology- transfer program, what would you say?
Ms. Dykstra stated that foliodirect is a very simple program to manage.  “It makes licensing these projects so easy.  It extends the reach of university technologies to a different market and provides a seamless connection for universities.”  She agreed that it’s convenient for users, it’s secure for members, the fees are inexpensive, and the service and support are great.  It’s a one-stop shop of storefronts that allows the customer to search for an assortment of technologies while allowing universities to participate in a program without having to hire additional staff.  What foliodirect offers is a real bargain!

We’d like to make special note of two recent nominations for the Digital Ventures unit:  Ms. Heinz was nominated this year for the Distinguished Staff Award at the University of Washington and the Digital Ventures staff was nominated for the Distinguished Team Award at UW.  The awards honor outstanding staff and departments for their accomplishments and contributions to the University and recognize “superior, sustained service . . . to the mission of the unit or University.”