Agreements
UNeMed negotiates a variety of contracts for and on behalf of the University of Nebraska Medical Center (UNMC). Two contracts are especially relevant for University Researchers.
Material Transfer Agreement:
A Material Transfer Agreement (MTA) ties certain terms to the use of tangible research materials allowing other researchers to use them while protecting rights associated with the materials. At UNMC, tangible materials can include, molecular biology reagents, cell lines, recombinant mice, devices or even software. The advantage of Material Transfer Agreements is that allow other university researchers to share tangible materials that Universities may be interested in commercializing. Material transfer agreements also allow industry to provide tangible materials to researchers without the researchers having to buy the materials. The disadvantage of Material Transfer Agreements is that they can delay publication, limit future intellectual property rights and require researchers to keep some information related to the materials confidential.
UNeMed negotiates all outgoing and incoming UNMC MTA’s. The negotiation of MTA’s varies substantially: simple university-university MTA’s can be handled in a day or two while more complex MTA’s, with foreign companies or proprietary materials from industry can take a very long time to negotiate. The long time to negotiate often stems from certain requirements put upon UNMC by Board of Regents, the National Institutes of Health, federal law and state law. UNeMed also ensures that the terms of MTA’s will not prevent future research; break the law or violate policy or inequitably take a share of the intellectual property generated by research.
If you are interested in transferring materials from UNMC or need to execute an MTA in order to receive materials please contact Joe Runge - hrunge@unmc.edu. This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it To expedite the process please have ready information related funding, intellectual property rights associated with the materials, and the research you intend to perform with the materials or to whom you intend to send the materials.
Council on Government Relations (COGR)
Uniform Biological Material Transfer Agreement (UBMTA)
Confidential Disclosure Agreement:
A Confidential Disclosure Agreement (CDA) enables UNMC faculty or staff to speak with an third party. CDA’s can be executed between companies, Universities or individuals about information not yet published or that has not yet been submitted for intellectual property protection.
CDA’s further enable discussion of business development information or early-stage scientific collaboration. For protection of patent rights, CDA’s are critical because premature public disclosure can limit or even preclude patent rights. CDA’s allow researchers to share unpublished information with academic collaborators or commercialization partners. Protecting ideas is essential to preserve the impact of academic publications and the value of intellectual property rights.
In order to receive confidential information researchers are often asked to also receive confidential information. In such cases UNeMed can negotiate the terms of a bilateral CDA’s where both parties share and receive information. Bilateral CDA’s, however, can be dangerous as they can limit future research. If researchers are obligated to keep information similar to their own research confidential it may prevent future publication. Careful consideration of any agreement where researchers are asked to keep information confidential is essential in order to protect future research.
Please contact Joe Runge - hrunge@unmc.edu This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it if you are interested in entering into a CDA to discuss confidential information.
Please contact Joe Runge - hrunge@unmc.edu This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it if you are in entering into a CDA in order to share or receive confidential information.