Issuance of licenses

The issuance of a license has two central purposes:

• to provide the licensee with a favored opportunity to market a product in order to make a profit
  
  
• to provide the licensor with an effective avenue for production and distribution of the product, with the prospect of royalties or other benefits.

Clearly, both the licensee and the licensor have something to gain from a successfully negotiated agreement. Both should feel they are in a "win" situation in so far as the terms of the license are concerned. Both have something to give in the transaction as well.

You can draw up a license with or without a patent being issued. Licenses can apply to products or to "know-how." Licenses can be agreed to as a part of any Cooperative R & D Agreement. If it is appropriate, you can specify in the R & D Agreement the entity (individual) who holds or will hold the patent. This makes it easy to initiate and negotiate licensing arrangements at a later date. In the absence of a Cooperative R & D Agreement, the intent to license (by the government) requires a public announcement of intention.

Take a moment to review the operational R & D interaction model presented on page 27, Section 2 of this Guide. You will be reminded of a number of benefits that the manufacturer is looking for and some typical expectations (shown in the model under contributions) of the laboratory.

Investigator

Transfer Officer

Center Director