Serving Boone, Blowing Rock, Banner Elk, and other towns of the North Carolina High Country | Founded 05-05-05

|| High Country Press Newswire

March 6, 2008 issue

Center for Entrepreneurship Offers Seminars on Technology Commercialization, Capital Formation And Intellectual Property in March and April

Appalachian State University’s Center for Entrepreneurship, in partnership with the BioNetwork BioBusiness Center at Asheville-Buncombe Technical Community College, will offer programs related to technology commercialization, capital formation and intellectual property in March and April.

The free programs will be held at the Appalachian Enterprise Center at 230 Poplar Grove Connector in Boone. Register to attend by contacting Julia Rowland at rowlandja@appstate.edu or 828-262-8325.

Introduction to Technology Commercialization—Wednesday, March 26

Paul Knott, curriculum coordinator from the BioBusiness Center, will present Introduction to Technology Commercialization on Wednesday, March 26, from 4:00 to 6:00 p.m. The program will introduce participants to the Goldsmith model for technology commercialization and cover the commercialization process, prefunding efforts and expectations, understanding investor needs and programs, enterprise valuation and recognizing and managing business risk in its various forms.

Capital Formation: Needs, Models and Successes—Wednesday, April 9

Socrates Choumbakos from the Venture Development Group will lead a program on Capital Formation: Needs, Models and Successes on Wednesday, April 9, from 4:00 to 6:00 p.m. Workshop participants will consider important business financing topics, including getting ready to seek financing, understanding potential sources, presenting a business proposal, making the financing deal and life after the deal. Choumbakos will identify written resources and assistance sources.

Intellectual Property: What It Is and How to Protect It—Wednesday, April 23

Dr. Gina Stewart of Sage Technology Management Inc. will lead a program on Intellectual Property: What It Is and How to Protect It on Wednesday, April 23, from 4:00 to 6:00 p.m. The workshop will introduce the foundations of intellectual property with particular attention to intellectual property issues facing biotechnology and life science businesses. Stewart will introduce participants to the four main areas of intellectual property law—trade secret, patent, copyright and trademark—and the process required to protect intellectual property in each of those areas.