Through many years of experience, and in discussions with numerous Tech Transfer colleagues, there are certain tricks that have been learned by successful TTPs to successfully negotiate, finalize, and sign License Agreements. These tricks are seemingly small and inconspicuous but have significant impact in “getting the deal done.” These include:
- Frame the negotiation from the outset
- Consider the negotiation an engineering problem that both sides are working to solve, not an adversarial contest
- Agree on the invention/IP’s development stage and what’s needed to advance it
- Have a sound rationale for your financial term expectation
- Transparency, honesty, and fact-based discussions/negotiations
- Treat licenses like marriages (they are long-term relationships), so consider the negotiation the beginning of a lasting relationship built on trust
- Focus initially on areas of agreement and use that positive basis to move on to difficult areas of disagreement
- Seek win-wins, be creative and look for various ways to solve points of disagreement, don’t get stuck in a position
- Remember, this is Tech Transfer—getting the deal done is the TTP’s job and responsibility.
More detail in this presentation.