Marc Tejtel

Professional Experience 

At Appleton Luff, Marc's primary focus is two-fold:

- To help non-US firms whose innovative technologies are of interest to US firms, enter into durable technology licensing agreements with these US firms. 

- To help build capacity in intellectual property and in technology transfer at institutions (e.g., universities) of countries transitioning towards knowledge economies.

For close to four decades prior to his joining Appleton Luff, much of Marc's work was conducted with non-US firms and institutions seeking to commercialize innovative technologies. 

Marc, a business economist who, later, became an IP lawyer, conducted such work in three successive capacities: most recently as a designer and implementer of technical assistance programs in commercial law, several of which were focused on technology transfer; in previous years, as the founder and CEO of a very small US firm whose mission was to help license, to large US groups,  technologies developed by European high-tech SMEs; in the late 1970s and early 1980s, as a business economist specialized in the risk analysis, from a financing perspective, of technological innovations developed by European SME.

 Technical Assistance: The Commercial Law Development Program (CLDP),  part of the Office of the General Counsel of the U.S.Department of Commerce (USDOC), helps developing countries create legislative, regulatory, and judicial environments conducive to trade and investment.

Marc joined CLDP in March 2002 as an attorney-advisor; he retired from CLDP in October 2021 as CLDP's Deputy Chief Counsel for Strategic Initiatives and Mentoring.

At CLDP, in addition to his managerial responsibilities, Marc designed and conducted "pioneer" programs in commercial law that resulted in the creation of four new domains of practice: Technology Licensing, Energy Law and Contracts, International Business Negotiations, Foreign Investments in/and Partnerships with State-Owned Enterprises (SOE). 

In addition, Marc launched  CLDP's first  programs in eight countries: Armenia, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Georgia, Iraq, Kosovo, Morocco, Pakistan, Tunisia. In five of these countries, the focus of these first programs was on intellectual property, technology transfer and technology licensing.

For each one of these initiatives, Marc designed and conducted experiential skills building programs, for which he created specific methodologies, and case studies.

Initial Exposure to a Developing Country and to Technical Assistance

Marc's initial experience with a developing country and with technical assistance started prior to his joining CLDP, when, for a few years, he was a Foreign Service Officer (FSO) with the U.S. Department of State. In 2000, as an FSO, Marc volunteered to serve at the U.S. embassy in Algeria, at that time considered to be a "danger post" and therefore lightly staffed.  There, Marc served simultaneously in five positions (Economic Officer, Commercial Officer, Energy Attaché, Agriculture Officer, and Environment, Science, Technology and Health Officer) which gave him an opportunity to understand the multidimensional challenges faced by  an energy-rich developing country. As Economic Officer, Marc launched the U.S. government's technical assistance to Algeria. The implementer of this technical assistance was CLDP.

Technology Licensing: In 1988,  Marc founded and managed for ten years a small US subsidiary of DITT (Development, Innovation, Technology Transfer), itself a subsidiary of EDF, the French electric utility. The mission of the small firm created by Marc was to help European high-tech SME license advanced technologies to large US firms. Under Marc's leadership, the firm reached the breakeven point in six months; it was successful at helping clients enter into durable contracts with US licensees. 

Risk Analysis of  Technological Innovations: For 13 years prior to creating the small U.S. firm mentioned above, Marc worked, as an economist, for a French state-owned financial institution similar, in its mission and activities, to the U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) in that it guaranteed loans made by banks to SMEs (1). There, from 1978 to 1985, Marc was in charge of the risk analysis department of a subsidiary specialized in the financing of the commercialization of technological innovations.

(1) This institution was called Caisse Nationale des Marchés de l'Etat(National Agency for the Financing of SMEs Awarded Government Contracts); after a merger with another financial institution, it changed its name to  Credit d'Equipement des Petites et Moyennes Entreprises (Bank for the Financing of SME Equipment). After a merger with France's national agency for the commercialization of new technology, it is now known as Banque Publique d'Investissement (National Investment Bank)

Education

Diplôme, Ecole des Hautes Etudes Commerciales/HEC France (Business Economics), 1970

Master's of Management (now called MBA), Vanderbilt U., 1972

J.D. George Mason University 1998 

Languages

English, French, elementary Russian

Much of Marc's work at CLDP involved creating and teaching skills-building seminars and workshops in four main domains: Intellectual Property, Technology Transfer, International Business Negotiations (in particular for the formation of joint ventures or for foreign investment), Viability of Technology Start-ups.  

Marc taught such workshops to foreign officials in eleven  countries (Algeria, Armenia, Bahrain, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Egypt, Georgia, Iraq, Libya, Morocco, Pakistan, Sri-Lanka, Tunisia). All of these workshops were based on case studies created by Marc.

Over the years, Marc also gave expert presentations on some of the topics above at conferences taking place in the US or overseas.

In the 1970s and 1980s, Marc taught in France, at several higher education institutions (1), courses that he created. These courses were focused on: Technology Forecasting, the Financing of Technological Innovation, Risk  Analysis of New Technologies.

(1) e.g., Conservatoire National des Arts et Métiers, Ecole Centrale, Institut National des Sciences et Techniques Nucléaires

In 1986, based upon his experience at the head of the Risk Analysis department of a state-owned institution specialized in the financing of technological innovation (please section above: Financing of Technological Innovation), Marc created a methodology that makes it possible, in less than an hour, to assess the risk of technology innovation projects. This methodology was published in Les Echos, the French equivalent to the Wall Street Journal.

Since then, Marc has always tried to draw on the lessons learned from his professional experience to create assessment methodologies. At CLDP, he created methodologies for several countries: 

• For Algeria and Tunisia, a methodology to assess  the viability of advanced technology start-ups.
• For Bahrain, a "triage" methodology to help decide which inventions are worth seeking patent protection for.
• For Egypt, a methodology to assess the value, for a potential licensee, of a new technology developed by a university.
•  For Pakistan, a methodology to assess the likelihood that a new technology developed by a university can be licensed to firms.
• For Iraq, a methodology to assess whether a new technology resulting from  government-funded  Research and Development (R&D) lends itself to the creation of a viable new firm.
• For several countries, a methodology to assess the likelihood of success of a contemplated international joint-venture.

Books:

Marc is the co-author of three books published in the late 1980s by the “Think Tank” of the French banking community; in each book, he wrote the chapter about the US.

• The Financing of Technical Innovation (in Western Countries)
• The Financing of Small and Medium Size Enterprises (in Western Countries)
• The Financing of Housing  (in Western Countries)

Articles and Research Papers:

Marc's first article (on the Lieberman reform in Soviet State-owned enterprises) was published in March 1970 in l’Expansion, the French equivalent to Fortune magazine.

In the 1970s and early 1980s, one of Marc's duties as an economist for a French state-owned financial institution (please see above the section on "Risk Analysis of Technological Innovations") was being the deputy editor of, and the main contributor to, what was at the time one of the most respected economic and financial publications in France:  the quarterly review of CNME, a French state-owned financial institution similar, in its mission and activities, to the U.S. Small Business Administration. Each year,  Marc wrote about four research papers that were published in this quarterly review. The focus of these research papers was on: SME financing, Research and Development (R&D) policy, risk analysis, and government procurement.