In 1966 a young physiologist at the University of Florida started giving an experimental electrolyte drink to the freshman football team.
That year, the Gators began a winning streak that earned them a reputation as a "second-half team" by kicking ass in the final plays.
The team's stamina was attributed to the fruity fluid-replacement drink, developed by medical researcher Dr. Robert Cade.
"We didn't have Gatorade," the coach of an opposing team told Sports Illustrated after losing to the Gators. "That made the difference."
With these words, one of the most successful products to come out of university research was born.
Currently, Gatorade earns the manufacturer, Quaker Oats, $1.3 billion in annual sales, and for years has been one of the University of Florida's top money-making spin-offs.
The Gatorade story, is not, however, typical.
With a few notable exceptions, most university research is never commercialized. Instead, it is doomed to a life of obscurity on a laboratory shelf.
But entrepreneur Craig Zolan wants to change that with a new Internet technology marketplace that matches technology sellers with technology buyers.
Zolan's UVentures is an eBay for patent holders. Researchers at colleges around the globe list their inventions in the hopes of catching the eye of a mega-corporation hunting for the next breakthrough idea.
Zolan, who comes from a family of entrepreneurs -- all five siblings and his parents started their own businesses -- knew a tech marketplace was a good idea when he floated that idea one afternoon during a visit to a university. He was immediately pitched 20 or more undeveloped technologies.
"There are a lot of lost opportunities," he said. "I did some investigating and realized it was epidemic among institutions. There is a lot of technology that can be commercially viable but it is just sitting there."
According to Zolan, with the exception of Stanford, the University of California, and MIT, most universities and colleges are not very good at capitalizing on the ideas hatched in their labs.
While many of these institutions have offices for "technology transfer," as it's known, they tend to be under-funded, under-staffed, and rely on a hopelessly outdated business practice: personal contacts.
"Universities aren't in the business of selling products," said Zolan, UVentures' CEO. "They are in the business of teaching and research. They want to license these things out but the problem is they don't know how to do so in an efficient manner. A lot of opportunities are lying fallow and going to waste."
Citing figures from the Association of University Technology Managers, Zolan said that in 1998 universities spent $24 billion on research, but earned only $725 million from licensing it.
If only a fraction of that expenditure can be recouped, Zolan reasons, the rewards for UVentures, which takes a percentage of any licensing deals, could be significant.
"Industry typically generates $10 for every $1 spent on R&D," he said. "Universities are generating 10 or 20 cents on the dollar. Even a 10 to 15 percent increase translates into huge dollars."
So far the site has listed 3,200 technologies from 37 different universities in the United States, Europe, and Asia. The technologies range from new drugs, chemicals, and materials to new ways of performing Internet searches and telephony over the Net.
Though UVentures has yet to make a sale, Zolan claims to have set up about 25 matches. He noted that the Byzantine licensing process sometimes takes years to navigate.
"It can be very complex," he said. "It's not one-click shopping."
Carl Oppedahl, a patent lawyer with Oppedahl and Larson, said technology licensing is notoriously haphazard.
"There are some universities that have made enormous amounts of money from their patents," Oppedahl said. "But there are enormous untapped resources in the patent portfolios of other institutions."
UVentures joins a rapidly growing sector of technology marketplaces on the Internet. Late last year saw the launch of a slew of new Intellectual Property marketplaces, including yet2.com, which concentrates on selling technology developed by corporations; TechEx, which focuses on the life sciences; and the Patent & License Exchange, a patent auction.
While skeptical that new websites will sweep away the old ways of licensing good ideas, Oppedahl predicted technology licensing will benefit from Net matchmakers.
Terry Young, executive director of Texas A&M University System's technology licensing office, also cast a cold eye on the new startups.
"This is a growing area based on the notion that you can license technology by just putting a piece of paper in someone's hand," Young said. "But that's not the way it happens. You have to know how to transfer the know-how and the technology. It's really a person-to-person kind of business."
Young said at best, IP marketplaces will prove to be just another tool for good old-fashioned networking.
"We're all looking for ways to spread the word about our opportunities," he said. "But when it comes right down to it, these things will only help you find people. Then you have to do the face-to-face, person-to-person transfer."
