NANOTECHNOLOGY The Business /<=:/->3@/=38 +89>/-289691C Series Editor Gabor L. Hornyak Nanotechnology: The Business, Michael T. Burke Nanotechnology: Education and Workforce Development, Gabor L. Hornyak Nanotechnology: Ethics and Society, Deb Bennett-Woods Nanotechnology: Health and Environmental Risks, Jo Anne Shatkin Nanotechnology: Legal Aspects, Patrick M. Boucher NANOTECHNOLOGY The Business Michael T. 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T174.7.B87 2008 620’.5068--dc22 2008015831 Visit the Taylor & Francis Web site at http://www.taylorandfrancis.com and the CRC Press Web site at http://www.crcpress.com Contents Foreword: A Letter from the Editor ........................................................ xiii Preface ...................................................................................................... xvii Acknowledgments .................................................................................. xxiii Introduction ..............................................................................................xxv Part 1 Nanotechnology and New Business Opportunities Chapter 1 The Relationship between Technology Development and New Business Creation ................................................................3 New Technology = New Opportunity = New Business ..........................3 Resistance to New Technology ....................................................................6 Summary ........................................................................................................8 Endnotes .........................................................................................................8 Chapter 2 Some Technologies That Have Changed Society ................... 11 The Wheel .....................................................................................................12 Money ............................................................................................................ 13 Gunpowder ................................................................................................... 15 The Steam Engine ........................................................................................ 17 Mechanized Transportation ...................................................................... 18 Rapid Communication ................................................................................ 21 Recombinant DNA Technology ................................................................ 24 The Computer and the Internet .................................................................25 Summary ......................................................................................................27 Endnotes .......................................................................................................27 Chapter 3 Nanotechnology: What’s Different? ....................................... 31 What Is the Same? ....................................................................................... 31 What Are the Differences? .........................................................................32 Summary ......................................................................................................34 Endnotes .......................................................................................................34 Chapter 4 Where Do New Nanotechnology Inventions Originate? ...... 37 Universities ...................................................................................................38 Government Laboratories ..........................................................................39 The Corporate Environment ......................................................................40 Summary ...................................................................................................... 41 Endnotes .......................................................................................................42 vi Nanotechnology: The Business Chapter 5 Obtaining Rights to Nanotechnology Inventions .................. 45 Evaluation .....................................................................................................46 Negotiating Terms .......................................................................................49 The Term Sheet ............................................................................................ 51 Negotiating the Contracts ..........................................................................52 Summary ......................................................................................................53 Endnotes .......................................................................................................53 Chapter 6 Some Examples of Current and Potential Nanotechnology Businesses ............................................................. 55 Some Current Nanotechnology Companies ............................................55 Arrowhead Research Corporation ...................................................55 Unidym ................................................................................................56 Nanogap ...............................................................................................57 nanoresins AG .....................................................................................58 Obducat AB ..........................................................................................58 Anson Nanotechnology Group ....................................................... 59 Texnology Nano Textile .....................................................................60 Icon Analytical Equipment Private, Ltd. .........................................60 Nanopac ............................................................................................... 61 Potential Businesses .................................................................................... 61 Nanopiezotronics ................................................................................62 Nanothermoelectric Generation .......................................................63 Superconducting Materials ...............................................................64 Nanomachines ....................................................................................65 Other Possibilities ...............................................................................65 Summary ......................................................................................................66 Endnotes .......................................................................................................66 Part 2 How, Where, When to Start: A Practical Guide to Getting off the Ground Chapter 7 Business Structures: Advantages and Disadvantages .......... 71 Business Structures .....................................................................................71 The Company Concept ......................................................................72 Sole Proprietorships ...........................................................................72 General Partnerships ..........................................................................75