Program agenda:
- Heading off common areas of disagreement and laying the groundwork for smooth sailing:
- The timing and drafting of founder’s agreements
- How the university’s equity terms are drafted
- Valuation perception
- Risks to subsequent funding rounds
- Clearly defining milestones and due diligence in the contracts
- Addressing sublicensing parameters, royalty rates, and auditing rights
- How entrepreneurial programs and start-up initiatives impact the tech transfer function and the office’s relationships with inventors and business leaders
- Warning signs and corrective steps
- Knowing when it’s time to go back to the negotiating table and how to do it without alienating faculty
Every tech transfer office knows its role is largely one of service to faculty, assisting researchers in moving their innovations through the commercialization pipeline. Typically, this means the researcher sees the TTO as an ally and advisor, often assisting with everything from disclosure to patent to start-up creation and funding. But, the feelings of “we’re in this together” can quickly turn sour when it comes time to negotiate licensing terms or the university’s equity stake in the start-up. And it can get downright nasty when things get real in term of money, leadership, control, and exit.
Many universities rely on boilerplate contracts for ease, quickness, and transparency, but start-ups are as unique as the inventions they are founded upon. And, while some terms and conditions are prime for cut-and-paste, this overall approach brings great risk of misunderstandings that can lead to bad blood and costly litigation.
That’s why we’re teaming up with K. Lance Anderson, attorney with Dickinson Wright PLLC, for this important program.
Mr. Anderson has experienced the push and pull of faculty start-ups from both sides of the table, and he’ll provide critical insight and guidance on the factors that trigger conflict, the contractual blunders that allow it, and the best practices that will prevent it.
