commercial – as well as making progress and setting out the main terms of the deal so that we can instruct lawyers effectively. However, some of the ‘terms’ we ‘agree’ in this honeymoon period turn out to be fiendishly difficult or even impossible to convert into ‘legalese’. In this session we look at some seemingly harmless commercial terms and attempt to convert them into fullycontingent legal terms. Jeff Skinner Mark Anderson 12.30 - 13.30 LUNCH 13.30 – 14.30
Developing a licensing strategy
What do we mean by the term, ‘licensing strategy’ and to what extent is it necessary to develop such a strategy in advance? In this session we put you in the position of a TTO who has to formulate a strategy for a new technology. Both the technology & academics are real. Your job is to think through what constitutes a strategy, and what you would advise (the academics & the university) in this case. We then use his exercise to examine what it’s useful to think & discuss up front. Jeff Skinner
13.30 - 14.30 LUNCH 14.30 - 16.00
How robust is the deal?
The ink is dry and we think we’ve cut a great deal – a lucrative mix of loyalty, milestones and (sometimes) equity now relax and wait for the cash to pour in. Well, if you’re lucky, but it’s likely that commercialisation takes an unexpected path and you find that one or more of those revenue streams is threatened or re-negotiated. In this session we study the case of a licensee seeking to ‘discuss’ the terms of the original license and, with the help of an expert panel, discuss what our response should be. Expert panel (Jeff Skinner and Mark Anderson)
14.30 - 16.00
Market research: find your partner
How to find your licensees; what are their goals (is it useful to address this or that company, because they are in financial trouble, not focused in the type of IP you are commercializing?); What is the potential value of your IP? Do you compare with other similar technologies? If no benchmark is available, how do you do it? Cath Whitaker, Director, Team Services Ltd, United Kingdom 16.00 – 16.30 COFFEE BREAK
16.00 - 16.30 COFFEE BREAK
13.15 – 14.15 SANDWICH LUNCH COURSE ENDS