Material Transfer Agreement Management: Negotiation Strategies to Strengthen Legal Protection and Gain Efficiency

Program agenda:

• The differences and considerations when negotiating:
  • Incoming MTAs
  • Outgoing MTAs
• Understanding the contractual priorities of educational entities, non-profits and corporations:
  • Rights to IP developed using the material
• Negotiating conflicting missions between parties in a way that:
  • Best protects the university’s legal stake in the IP
  • Promotes commercialization
  • Keeps the relationship between parties on a positive note
  • Doesn’t negatively impact the ability of the PI to apply for funding and continue research
• What happens when negotiations hit an impasse, how it can affect research and your researcher relations
• Plus: Examples of MTA “war stories” and their outcomes

Universities spend millions of dollars and untold hours on negotiating terms and processing hundreds of thousands of MTAs every year. And since MTAs can have serious ramifications in terms of rights to resulting inventions, for future licensing agreements and for publication rights, it’s not a process to be taken lightly or rushed through. The way MTAs are negotiated and managed can also have a huge impact on your organization’s productivity, since the volume and processing time can combine to overwhelm an already overworked staff.

That’s why we’ve teamed up with two experts from the University of Iowa who have successfully addressed the MTA challenge, and are ready to share their strategies with you.

Program Leaders