SYRACUSE — The New York State Science and Technology Law Center at the Syracuse University (SU) College of Law is campaigning to gain permanent funding from the state. The center has been funded since 2004 through a series of legislative member items secured by Assemblyman William Magnarelli, says Theodore Hagelin, a professor at the law school […]
SYRACUSE — The New York State Science and Technology Law Center at the Syracuse University (SU) College of Law is campaigning to gain permanent funding from the state.
The center has been funded since 2004 through a series of legislative member items secured by Assemblyman William Magnarelli, says Theodore Hagelin, a professor at the law school and director of the center. To date, the college has received $375,000.
The school was re-designated for a third three-year term to serve as the technology law center earlier this year. The center provides education, information, and research and analysis directed at startups and early-stage technology companies.
Its most important effort is preparing detailed technology commercialization reports for companies, Hagelin says. The semester-long projects provide an in-depth evaluation of the potential for a new company’s technology in the market.
The documents are free to companies and also include information on legal and regulatory issues a new business may face. In exchange, the SU students who work on the reports gain invaluable practical experience, Hagelin says.
The center is seeking $2 million from the state for a permanent, annual budget.
“We know it’s an uphill battle,” Hagelin says. “We know this is not a prodigious time to go forward and try to get a new program funded.”
But, Hagelin notes, the state spends more than $100 million a year already on research and development. Facilities like the Syracuse Center of Excellence and others across the state where that research occurs are not going away.
New York won’t ever gain a full return on its research investment unless it spends more on technology commercialization, Hagelin says.
“We tried last year and didn’t make it,” he says, regarding the center’s funding request. “We will try again this year. And if we don’t make it this year, we will try again next year.”
Hagelin says he’s been working with SU students on commercialization reports for companies for 25 years. Since the law center launched in 2004, he’s also worked to spread the concept to other universities.
The center has helped launch technology commercialization clinics at Stony Brook University, the Rochester Institute of Technology, Niagara University, Binghamton University, and Clarkson University. Hagelin says he’d also like to see a clinic launched somewhere in the Albany area.
He notes the center at SU and the clinics at other schools have seen an uptick in demand for their services lately.
“I don’t know how much of this is because of the economy or if it’s just people becoming more aware of entrepreneurship and the opportunities it presents,” he says. “I think the message of entrepreneurship is really getting out there.”
The center is currently crafting commercialization reports on a new suicide-prevention technology and a new technology to monitor maternal and fetal heartbeats during childbirth. Staff members at the State University of New York Upstate Medical University developed both concepts, Hagelin says.
He says he’s also working with University College on an online course in law for entrepreneurs. He hopes to launch the program this summer.
The course would provide an overview of key legal concepts like technology transfer and licensing.
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