Universities also should consider developing model agreements for single research projects and ensure that the terms do not unduly disadvantage small and medium-sized companies. Confidentiality agreements, when necessary, should be signed by the company, the university, and the researchers involved. The company and the university must take responsibility for safeguarding confidential information. Publication delays to protect intellectual-property rights should generally be no longer than 60 to 90 days. Any publication delays should be monitored carefully both to preserve academic freedom and to protect against any early disclosure that might invalidate patent claims.
Indirect costs are a legitimate expense of performing university research.
Although ownership and control of intellectual property resulting from a collaboration must be decided by the collaboration partners, it usually will be appropriate for the university to retain ownership. Both parties should remain flexible during negotiations, and the key measure should be whether the corporate partner has the ability to commercialize the fruits of the research to the benefit of the public. Universities should update their copyright policies to allow industry sponsors to be granted licensing terms on a basis similar to that provided with patents. Collaboration partners should avoid engaging in contentious licensing negotiations during a collaboration negotiation, while preserving the ability of the university and its faculty to share in the benefits of successes. Should the partners agree to preset a royalty rate or range, the university should be mindful of federal tax regulations governing commercialization terms for sponsored research that takes place in buildings or uses equipment funded by tax-exempt bonds.