The location of the REO is critical. An office that is located close to the scientists’ workplace is most efficient and will help to establish cooperation and trust between the scientist/researchers and the REO staff. Most REOs start in either a research office or an administration building. Therefore the REO will be located at ZUJ campus. The elements of physical infrastructure that might be required include but are not limited to:
· Office space: will be located at Faculty of Science and Information Technology – ZUJ
· Office furniture: including desks, chairs, filing cabinets, conference tables, decoration, carpets, land-line phone and extension, photocopier, and so on.
· Computer systems, including PCs that are connected to high speed Internet and equipped with windows, office, and internet security solution, printers, cameras, speakers, and so on.
· General office supplies, including pencils, pens, paper and staples.
Human infrastructure is even more important than physical infrastructure. An REO needs to have employees with expertise in intellectual property, business, law, contracting, and negotiation. People will be needed to fill the following positions to operate a typical REO:
· Office director (usually a scientist with extensive business experience rather than a lawyer)
· Administrative assistant
· Licensing specialist
· Attorney
· Students
A TTO’s daily operations touch on a number of different fields. An office should therefore have access to external specialists for advice: an advisory panel, hired consultants, or colleagues. The types of specialists that are needed usually include, but are not limited to:
· Patent attorneys or patent agents (depending on the field of invention)
· General legal counsel
· Licensing specialists
· Marketing specialists
· Database specialists
· Drawing and design specialists
One of the most important skills relates to communication and negotiation. An office director should possess these communication and negotiation skills:
· Good interpersonal skills (especially important when interacting with inventors)
· Good interaction skills for dealing with entrepreneurs in the private sector, the public sector, and small and large businesses
· Good spoken and written language skills
· Formal experience in negotiation
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Organizational Structure
The REO will be organized as a unit of ZUJ not as a separate corporation. It is preferred that the organization of the REO is assigned to academic and administrative staff. According to some studies [How-are-US-Tech.-Transfer-Offices-Tasked-and-Motivated] only 5.5% of the offices management was assigned to the president or chancellor.
Figure 1 Organizational Structure of THE REO in Alzaytoonah University