Since they were first developed several years ago, “express” licenses have become a widely used tool and many organizations are using various versions of standardized license agreements to dramatically speed licensing and start-up formation. In this post, we’ll take a look at statistics compiled from interviews with five TTOs that actively use express licenses. Use the handy side-by-side comparison to leverage terms and conditions for use in your license. But first, let’s look at the parameters used to describe express licenses during the information gathering process:
- Pre-determined terms across all technologies, or determined by technology area, or based on status of development
- Little or no negotiation
- Having a set timetable for completion
- “Promotion” or “discount” concept
- Economies of scale concept
Most of the organizations interviewed said that their express licenses were driven by faculty and the main goals are to expedite the licensing process, provide a transparent and easy process for industry while saving money on resources. Let’s take a look at some of the key terms included in express licenses:
Interestingly, none of the TTOs interviewed claimed “increase of revenue” as their reason for utilizing express licenses. However, the more deals done this way will lead to increased revenue and possibly even an increase in “one-click” licenses, which will be covered in our upcoming webinar on November 19th: Ready to Sign Licenses: Bring in More Licensing Revenue With Less Effort.
We’ve included additional terms in an expanded chart which can be found here. Technology Transfer Tactics would like to thank for their valuable insight and compilation of data:
| Kevin Lei, MS, MBA Director, Faculty and Start-Up Services Office of Technology Transfer Emory University |
Dean Stell, BS, MBA Associate Director, Commercialization Wake Forest innovations |
Kevin and Dean provide a more in-depth analysis of the chart above as well as best practices for drafting express licenses and discuss the incentives, benefits, and drawbacks for both your TTO and for your partners in this archived webinar, The Continuing Evolution of Express Licensing: Maximizing the Benefits and Minimizing the Drawbacks, which is available on DVD, OnDemand Video and PDF Transcript.
Visit www.TechTransferCentral.com for more information on how to hasten and streamline the commercialization process, as well as maximize the financial benefits of that process for your organization.
