“Commercializing an MRI Breakthrough,” Lee Fleming, HBS Business Case 9-608-064.

• Find and download 2–3 of Charles Marcus’s patent applications from PatentScout that are related to Exhibit 3 of the case. Note that the titles of the applications may not be a perfect match with those shown in the case. (He has considerable more recent patent activity, but confine yourself to the approximate time of the case … prior to 2010.)
• Prepare the “discussion topics” outlined below.

=== DISCUSSION Topics ==================

MRI Breakthrough case

• What are the supposed unique capabilities of the two technologies described?
• What is the different business value provided by the Particles and the Machine aspects of the IP? Make a small table as you read.
• What are the options for realizing true commercial (i.e. market) value of this IP?
• Should the technologies be bundled, or kept separate? List the pro’s and con’s of the different strategies.
• What complementary assets (other technologies, marketing or distribution networks, supply chains, regulatory expertise, etc.) would Aptekar need to access? Who has those?
• Consider these two technologies’ placement in the “Gans / Stern Framework,” described in a pre-work video.