This guide to information resources was created by the MIT $100K Organizers with help from the librarians at the MIT Dewey Library. While there is no substitute for getting out there and talking to real customers, these resources can help you get a top down handle on the market size and competitors. For further assistance with your research, please contact a librarian. Great technical ideas are often a good start, but successful business plans include sections on marketing and financials based on additional research. There are many resources available to help write business plans and to research strategies, industry trends, customer needs and potential competitors.
In order to be sure your product or service targets the needs of your customers you will need to be familiar with how these people behave. In order to construct convincing sales and revenue forecasts you must understand competing firms.
When doing market research, remember to take time to talk with actual potential customers. Many times the fastest way to get the information you need is simply to ask the people who know. You can contact potential customers, suppliers, and competitors directly through interviews or surveys; this is often the most useful, efficient, and credible method. To identify contacts and industry experts, use online "Yellow Pages" directories (such as ReferenceUSA), the Encyclopedia of Associations, National Trade and Professional Associations of the United States or the Washington Information Directory (both of these books are on reference at the Dewey Library).
NOTE: MIT Certificates must be installed on your computer for off-campus access to most of the proprietary database links on this page.
MIT has licensing agreements with several market research firms enabling access to many of their reports. These firms include Frost & Sullivan, Gartner Group (full access available in library) , Jupiter Research and others. For a full list of accessible market research firms, visit the Business Database Advisor.
Some research firms, such as Forrester and IDC, make abstracts or excerpts of their reports available for free on their websites. Unfortunately, MIT Libraries usually cannot purchase such reports due to their high cost and limited scope.For new products and new markets, it is possible that no previously-published market research reports exist. Dewey Library has created a guide to "do-it-yourself" market research using the MIT Libraries resources, tailored to the needs of someone writing a business plan (on a limited budget) without access to off-the-shelf market research.
There is generally more information available about public companies than there is about private firms. It's a good idea to first determine whether your target company is public or private using either D&B Million Dollar Database or ReferenceUSA, two large directories of US and International companies. Next, consult the Business Database Advisor, a tool for identifying the most commonly-used resources for company financials, news, analysis and forecasts, and other information.
For step-by-step instruction on doing basic company research, visit the Online Workshop: Researching Companies. If you cannot find what you are looking for, or if you need help with your research, you are always welcome to ask for help from a librarian.
There is generally more information available about larger, more established industries than smaller, emerging ones. If you are researching a niche industry, it is a good idea to speak with a librarian for advice before you delve too deeply into your research.
The Dewey Library Industry Information Subject Guide provides an extensive list of sources for researching industries, including journal and newspaper databases (such as ABI/Inform and LexisNexis), industry reports (from Standard & Poor's, Plunkett Research, and others) and other data sources.
For step-by-step instruction on doing industry research, visit the Online Workshop: Researching Industries, Markets + Products.
Patent documents can be a rich source of competitive and technical information. The science and engineering librarians at MIT have created a Guide to Patents at MIT.
The Dewey Research Advisor suggests several sources of information on venture capital funding. There are also websites with information on funding, including:
The MIT Dewey Library (in Building E53) is the MIT library for business-related resources (and related management and the social sciences topics). The Dewey Library offers multiple routes for getting help with your research. For on the spot advice, reference librarians are available at Dewey from 11am - 5pm, Mon - Fri. You can also get advice or answers to research questions via e-mail through the MIT Libraries Ask Us! service. More extended research assistance can be obtained by meeting with a librarian. To arrange a consultation for individuals or teams, fill out a Research Consultation form.
Visit the MIT Libraries website for more information about other MIT library locations and services.
The Boston Public Library's Kirstein Business Branch (20 City Hall Ave., Boston; 523-0860) is another local, comprehensive business library with special resources on Massachusetts and regional businesses and data. The BPL's Central Library (666 Boylston St., Boston; 536-5400) includes an extensive patent depository collection.
MIT is a member of the Boston Library Consortium, which allows MIT students access to many Boston-area research libraries, including Boston College, Boston University, Northeastern, Wellesley, and several others. MIT also has some privileges at some of Harvard's libraries. Before visiting any of our area libraries, please visit the MIT Libraries guide to accessing non-MIT libraries for more details about access and applying for borrowing cards.
The MIT Entrepreneurs Club, aka the "E-Club", focuses on developing all aspects of science and technology business creation. The E-Club website contains a wealth of information for entrepreneurs and $100K team members.
Courtesy of Ted Pitcher of Testa, Hurwitz & Thibeault, LLP
A valid patent grants to its owner the right in the United States for a term of 20 years following the filing date of the patent application to exclude others from making, using offering for sale, or selling the subject matter defined by the claims made in the patent.
The Patent Act is found at 35 U.S.C. et seq. The basis for the Patent Law is Article 1, section 8 of the U.S. Constitution which states: "Congress shall have the power to promote the progress of science and the useful arts, by securing for limited times to authors and inventors the exclusive rights to their respective writings and discoveries."
"Whoever invents or discovers any new and useful process, machine, manufacture, or composition of matter, or any new and useful improvement thereof, may obtain a patent therefor subject to the conditions and requirements of this title." (35 U.S.C. A7101)
The invention must be novel, non-obvious and useful, and must be supported by a disclosure describing it, how to make it, and how to use it.
Filing of patent application with the United States Patent and Trademark Office (PTO) with the requisite filing fee; specification or written description of the claimed invention; any necessary drawings; claims setting forth the precise limits of the claimed invention. The application is assigned to an Art Unit according to the technology, and examined by a patent examiner.
Governed by 35 U.S.C. A7271. Section 271(a) provides that whoever without authority makes, uses offers to sell or sells any patented invention within the United States, or imports into the United States any patented invention during the term of the patent therefor, infringes the patent. Section 271(b) provides that anyone who actively induces infringement shall be liable as an infringer. Section 271(c) governs contributory infringement. This section provides that whoever sells a patented component of a patented article, composition etc...or a material or apparatus for use in practicing a patented process shall be liable as a contributory infringer.
Patents may be assigned in whole in part, or may be the subject of a security interest or lien. Notice of the assignment, security interest or lien must be recorded with the Assignment Branch of the Patent and Trademark Office in order to be effective against a bona fide subsequent purchaser for value without notice of the prior grant. In order be recordable, the transfer document must adequately identify the patents or applications, i.e., by patent number or serial number.
Patents may be field in almost any country in the world. Foreign applications based on a U.S. application may obtain the benefit of the U.S. filing date by claiming priority to the U.S. case. To claim priority, foreign applications must be filed within one year of the U.S. application. Foreign rights may be reserved for 18 months additional by filing an international application through the Patent Cooperation Treaty.
It is often stated that the Patent Law constitutes an exception to the antitrust laws. The patent owner may license or sell the patent to a third party, and generally may carve up his rights in any way she wants, but not in such a manner as to extend the scope of the patent monopoly, for example, by restraining competition in an unpatented product, or by extending her rights beyond the twenty year term.
Antitrust considerations arise most often in the context of patent licensing. Technology licenses must comply with existing statutory and judicial standards under the patent and antitrust laws. The patent owner maintains the sole discretion whether to use the patented invention or to allow others to use the invention. Since a patent grants the owner the right to exclude all others from making, using, or selling the claimed invention, the patentee may elect not to use or may refuse to license the invention without running afoul of antitrust laws. The Patent Misuse Reform Act of 1988 confirmed that nonuse or refusal to license a patent is not misuse. On the other hand, a refusal to license that is not unilateral on the part of the patentee may not necessarily be immune from antitrust attack.
Generally, a patentee is free to license her patent so as maximize the profit derived from its exploitation. Certain licensing practices, however, may be held to reach beyond the proper scope of the patent grant or otherwise illegally restrict trade and have, therefore, been challenged as antitrust violations. These include:
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