**1. Introduction**

Intellectual property (IP) is the application of the mind by any individual to develop or invent something new and original, either an innovative technology or invention that can be legally protected from being exploited by people

without the owner's/inventor's consent [1–3]. This protection can be in terms of a particular country's legislation or a foreign law. The World Intellectual Property Organization [2] describes an innovative technology as a means of creating something novel that improves a product, process or service. Furthermore, it defines an invention as new research results that can both solve a problem and be exploited commercially. According to Kalanje [4], innovative technologies and inventions generally stand a better chance of successfully reaching the marketplace if IP is used strategically.

Various types of IP that can be used to legally protect the innovative technologies and inventions include patents, copy rights, designs, trademarks, geographical indications, trade secrets/know-how and plant breeder's rights [5–8]. By copyright, the author of the present paper refers to a bundle of rights granted automatically (in South Africa) by law to creators of the original work [9]. However, the work must be fixed in a tangible medium (i.e. copies and phonorecords) for protection under this IP. Typical examples of materials that can be copyrighted encompass artistic, dramatic, literary and musical works, sound recordings, broadcasts and films [10, 11]. Unlike copyright, registered designs are granted as a form of formal IP and are classified as either aesthetic or functional [12]. According to the National Intellectual Property Management Office [6], aesthetic designs protect the visual attractiveness of a product, and functional designs protect features of an article that are necessitated by the function the article is to perform. These designs must be new and original, and not common in the state of the art at the time of registration or protection. It should be stated that a sole product may be registered as both a functional and aesthetic design. With regard to trademarks, their primary functions are to distinguish different sources of products or providers of services from each other, but they may also have other connotations [13, 14]. A trademark can take many forms including amongst others, words, pictures or even smells [15]. Geographical indications are forms of IP that identify the geographical origin of a product where a given quality, reputation or other characteristic of such product is essentially attributable to its geographical origin [16]. Generally, geographical indications are protected by means of sui generis systems or via conventional IP rights, mainly as a form of trademark. A trade secret is any confidential and commercially valuable information that provides a company with a competitive advantage, such as customer lists, methods of production, marketing strategies, pricing information and chemical formulae [17]. Protection of these secrets may extend indefinitely, lasting as long as the subject matter of the trade secret is commercially valuable and is kept confidential. In contrast, a patent is the legal right of an inventor to exclude others from making or using an invention, and this right is customarily limited in time to 20 years from the priority date in most countries [18]. To qualify for patent protection, inventions must be new, nonobvious and commercially applicable.

Intellectual properties are becoming increasingly important tools for sustainable development in developing countries [19]. Most developing countries that are found in various regions of Africa such as Namibia [20], Nigeria [21], Kenya [22], Mozambique [23], Uganda [24], Tanzania [25] and Egypt [26] amongst the others have developed IP policies to foster economic and social development. South Africa is not excluded and the IP Rights from Publicly Financed Research and Development Act, Act 51 of 2008 (IPR Act), was established by the government to encourage these developments. The objectives of this Act are to encourage the identification, protection, utilisation and commercialisation of all IP emanating from publicly financed research and development, for the benefit of the people of the Republic.

**121**

percentage, were used were necessary.

*Activities Pivotal for the Sustainability of Newly Established Technology Transfer Offices: A Case…*

As part of an effort to achieve these, the South African government has recently established technology transfer offices (TTOs) in various publicly financed universities and other state-owned enterprises to carry out the above-stated objectives. The government provides the start-up finance for a certain number of years (3 years for start) to ensure the establishment of these offices, and thereafter, it is the responsibility of the host institution to sustain the referred office. It should be stated that the performance of university TTOs in South Africa and elsewhere has been studied, and a wide range of Data Envelopment Analysis metrics including TTO revenue, number of IP/invention disclosures, number of patent applications, patents granted, licences signed, start-up companies formed and new commercial products, employment and productivity growth of start-up partners amid others have been selected to assess the performance and success of TTOs based at the universities [27, 28]. However, studies looking at the strategic activities with potential to contribute towards achieving these metrics which are curial to the sustainability of newly formed TTOs within the publicly financed South African universities (PFSAU) are lacking. It is fundamental that continual effective strategic activities that encourage the innovative ideas and disclosures of actionable IP be put in place to ensure that these offices achieve the

The present study is thus aimed at investigating some of these strategic activities. Importantly, the stated Data Envelopment Analysis approach highlighted earlier is regarded as the most suitable and acceptable way of measuring universitybased TTO efficiency. However, such approach is not applicable to newly established TTOs, as the offices need to engage in strategic activities that will in a long run enable them to build a strong IP/invention and commercialisation portfolio to allow the application of such approach. Therefore, the strategic activities can be considered performance measurement necessary to determine whether newly

Information presented in this chapter was gathered using strategic conversation with IP experts and active academic researchers in PFSAU who are knowledgeable about IP and technology transfers. Furthermore, the author also extracted copious notes through listening to strategic conversations amongst local and international IP experts who presented at World Intellectual Property Organisation Summer school, held at the University of the Western Cape (Cape Town, South Africa, 27 November to 08 December 2017), under the theme 'Advanced Intellectual Property and Transfer of Technology'. According to Kyprianou et al. [29], strategic conversations are any naturally occurring, as opposed to scripted or interview-based, interactions (including talk and non-verbal cues) amongst the targeted population. Godfrey and Hill [30] wrote that strategic conversation data are distinct from archival and interview data and are likely to generate insights into otherwise unobservable and neglected aspects of strategy because conversations are (1) unscripted, naturally occurring and fluid and (2) include multiple voices and perspectives. Generally, all the personnel from whom the authors obtained information via strategic conversation are referred in this study as 'participants', except in few cases were they are specified (i.e. academic researchers in PFSAU). Overall, content analysis was used to analyse data gathered. According to Krippendorff [31], this type of analysis provides new insights, increases a researcher's understanding of a particular phenomenon and informs practical actions. Simple descriptive statistics, namely

established TTO is on the right track to achieve their goals or not.

*DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.5772/intechopen.90852*

objectives of IPR and become self-supporting.

**2. Research methods**

#### *Activities Pivotal for the Sustainability of Newly Established Technology Transfer Offices: A Case… DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.5772/intechopen.90852*

As part of an effort to achieve these, the South African government has recently established technology transfer offices (TTOs) in various publicly financed universities and other state-owned enterprises to carry out the above-stated objectives. The government provides the start-up finance for a certain number of years (3 years for start) to ensure the establishment of these offices, and thereafter, it is the responsibility of the host institution to sustain the referred office. It should be stated that the performance of university TTOs in South Africa and elsewhere has been studied, and a wide range of Data Envelopment Analysis metrics including TTO revenue, number of IP/invention disclosures, number of patent applications, patents granted, licences signed, start-up companies formed and new commercial products, employment and productivity growth of start-up partners amid others have been selected to assess the performance and success of TTOs based at the universities [27, 28]. However, studies looking at the strategic activities with potential to contribute towards achieving these metrics which are curial to the sustainability of newly formed TTOs within the publicly financed South African universities (PFSAU) are lacking. It is fundamental that continual effective strategic activities that encourage the innovative ideas and disclosures of actionable IP be put in place to ensure that these offices achieve the objectives of IPR and become self-supporting.

The present study is thus aimed at investigating some of these strategic activities. Importantly, the stated Data Envelopment Analysis approach highlighted earlier is regarded as the most suitable and acceptable way of measuring universitybased TTO efficiency. However, such approach is not applicable to newly established TTOs, as the offices need to engage in strategic activities that will in a long run enable them to build a strong IP/invention and commercialisation portfolio to allow the application of such approach. Therefore, the strategic activities can be considered performance measurement necessary to determine whether newly established TTO is on the right track to achieve their goals or not.
