Drafting and Negotiating Preferential Rights in University IP Licenses and Sponsored Research Agreements

Program agenda:

• Discuss the four main types of preferential rights and their use, benefits and limitations:
  • Options
  • Rights of first refusal
  • Rights of first offer
  • Rights of first negotiation
• Instruct you on how to use preferential rights as a negotiation tool with licensees and potential research sponsors
• Review examples of agreements and contract language
• Outline key strategies for negotiating rights to Improvements with research partners and licensees
• Give you a solid understanding of field-of-use provisions, and how they may fit into the preferential rights discussion
• Provide best practice advice for structuring incentives to sublicense outside of field of use

Although preferential rights such as options, rights of first refusal, rights of first offer, and rights of first negotiation are frequently used in IP licenses, there is widespread misunderstanding about what each means. Lack of clarity and improper definition can lead to confusion, which in turn often results in placement of the same standard provision in every agreement. That can be a big miss for your university.

In fact, preferential rights allow customized access to IP assets for licensees and can be a significant negotiating point when drafting deals with research partners. But, if these provisions are improperly drafted or allocated in the license, you risk leaving dollars on the table — or even inadvertently giving away your future stake in the IP.

That’s why we’ve recorded this one hour session reveal drafting and negotiation strategies and best practices for addressing the structure, assignment and enforcement of preferential rights.

Join us for this critically important program led by University of Utah Technology and Licensing Manager Beth Drees, PhD, MBA. 

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