You have to make sure the new product can be sold and at the right price. When you move into the negotiation stage, it's important to define the product's objective performance metrics carefully, says Mr. Keitt. The technology doesn't do anything on its own, it has to be applied to your business. You have to figure out how the technology fits into your system. This schedule dictates when the technology will be customized, modified or combined with other systems and brought to market.
Timetables vary widely depending on the technology.
For example, biopharmaceutical technologies and products, Mr. Molloy says, must take FDA regulations into consideration because drug trials and other steps in the approval process can take a long time. Discovering compounds and filing a patent is the first step in a long road to capturing value. Between a patent and commercialization, there might be three years of work involved and a couple of million dollars in development. When closing the deal, use an attorney who has set up contracts for similar types of technology, says Mr. Zolan. What and how you pay for the technology will be a function of the technology and the marketplace.