License Agreements

A license agreement gives you rights to develop a University technology towards commercialization.
 

License Agreement Documents

Take a look at the standard licensing documents below to see what you can expect as part of the licensing process.

Note that these documents are for demonstration purposes—we will customize your licensing agreement to fit the technology, the licensee, and any specific requirements we may have.

License Application

We may ask you to complete a license application that outlines your plans for commercialization. This application lets us to develop the first draft of the term sheet.

Material Transfer Agreement

Outgoing Material Transfer Agreements (MTAs) let you transfer a copy or version of our materials to your lab for further evaluation or development.

The MTA defines who owns the materials and any modifications or derivatives that you make. It also gives confidentiality to protect intellectual property rights for both parties, and the rights to the inventions and research results you derive from the materials.

Non-Disclosure Agreement

After you contact us to discuss a University technology, we may draft a Non-Disclosure Agreement Form (NDA). This document keeps confidential information, such as unpublished patent applications and unpublished scientific data, between the parties that share it.

Non-confidential information, such as published patents, published research articles, and marketing summaries, does not need an NDA.

Term Sheet

The term sheet is a nonbinding document that captures the business terms of your agreement with the University around a technology.

Sponsored Research Agreement

Sponsored Research Agreements let you work directly with University researchers to begin or continue development of a technology. You must negotiate these agreements through the University's Sponsored Projects Administration.
 

License Agreement Definitions

Some of the terms we may include on your license agreement include:

License fee: Paid once you sign a license agreement, with the amount based on the technology’s value.

Patent reimbursement: Paid to the University to defray our patent processing costs, such as filing fees, intellectual property attorney’s fees, and any late fees.

Development period with milestone payments: When a technology requires extensive development, you must submit a development plan that outlines your plan toward commercialization. We will check in with you on your progress and, in many cases, ask for milestone payments to reduce the initial license fee on a high-risk project.

Royalties: Paid when you sell products based on the technology, either as a percentage of sales or a fee per unit.

Minimum royalty: To encourage you to actively market your technology, we will expect an annual minimum royalty at the end of each development period. We only require an extra fee if your royalties fall short of this minimum.