Technology Transfer & Licensing
Technology transfer (TOT) is important for economic development. It can be defined as transfer of new technologies from universities and research institutions to parties capable of commercialization, or in the sense of transfer of technologies across international borders, generally from developed to developing countries.
Generally TOT consists of knowledge or IP rights that are:
- licensed in the form of intellectual property,
- the subject of formal consulting or training agreements,
- communicated in the work place or research settings,
- diffused by publication or other means.
WIPO supports its Member States by providing capacity building programs, offering, sustainable training programs and serving as a discussion forum on TOT topics.
Successful Technology Licensing
Successful Technology Licensing is a WIPO booklet aimed primarily at businesses, technology managers and scientists who deal with licensing questions in the course of their work. It aims to help its readers to negotiate "win-win" licensing agreements, in which all parties receive and exchange approximately equal benefits and value. Download the booklet here in English, French or Spanish [PDF].
Exchanging Value - Negotiating Technology Licensing Agreements: A Training Manual
This 178-page (A5 size) user-friendly training manual focuses on the practical business needs and concerns of non-specialists who have to deal with 'licensing in' or 'licensing out' of technology. It takes a holistic view of the process in the context of business strategy and, therefore, begins by highlighting the importance of the process of due diligence while preparing for negotiations, and then deals with key business and legal issues in a licensing agreement for technologies protected by patent and trade secrets. It provides practical guidance on negotiating techniques for licensing contracts, explains a number of basic rules pertaining to business, legal and financial aspects of the negotiating process, and illustrates the points made with a number of clear and cogent examples.
It also includes outline of a program schedule and practical guidelines for creating and managing teams/groups for conducting mock negotiations during a five-day practical workshop on negotiating technology licenses. For the mock negotiation exercise three case studies are included in the Manual.
"Exchanging Value - Negotiating Technology Licensing Agreements: A Training Manual" may be purchased from WIPO's website: http://www.wipo.int/ebookshop.
