A Brief Introduction of Cooperative Research and Development Agreement
Cooperative Research and Development Agreement is prepared with the aim to work on research with another party, and the research is done with the help of the development of new technologies. A cooperative research and development agreement is an agreement between the private organization and the government agency to work on a project together. This agreement is like the tool used by the federal labs to engage with the other parties, collaborate, and make a common effort to attain the goals within the specified period.
The cooperative research and development agreement helps to protect any proprietary information, it allows the parties to keep researching and attain the best result from the research, that result will be kept confidential and free from disclosure to the third party as well (Rogers, 1998). This agreement allows the government and the party to share the license as well as patent rights. It permits the partners to retain the patent license to use the account as and when required.
Cooperative Research and Development Agreement is important for some small technology-related organizations that are struggling with contract development inside labs. Once these firms can identify the labs, they want to work with them; hence, there is a low-risk opportunity and high chances of building valuable relationships.
Who Takes the Cooperative Research and Development Agreement?
A cooperative research and development agreement is a primary tool with the help of which technological experience can be transferred from labs to non-federal parties. The parties involved in this type of agreement is the tech firms, small organizations, and government agencies who take help from these tech firms for research.
Purpose of the Cooperative Research and Development Agreement
The purpose of the Cooperative Research and Development Agreement is to contribute personal, services, equipment, and other necessary resources apart from financial resources that help in conducting specific research. Apart from that, the agreement provides non-federal collaborators with an option to negotiate in terms of the invention that is the outcome of the research. This is the only agreement that gives a license option to the intellectual property, which was developed during a collaborative project. This agreement is suitable for those who will make an important contribution to the research project.
Contents of the Cooperative Research and Development Agreement
Cooperative Research and Development Agreement has the following inclusions: –
- Background Invention – Any party involved is as per CRADA Data. This means that for all the recorded information, the computer software will be used for the performance as mentioned in the agreement.
- CRADA Invention – Any invention under the agreement or created with the help of CRADA should be covered as per the provision of this agreement.
- Proprietary Information – Any confidential business information or financial information that is created under this agreement by the collaborator will be mentioned.
- Research Plan and Changes– The research plan of this agreement, along with the duration objectives, will be mentioned in Appendix A.
- Equipment – The equipment used for this research under the CRADA will be property listed.
How to Draft the Cooperative Research and Development Agreement?
The following steps will be taken to draft the agreement: –
- Article 1 – Under this section, all the essential terms, along with the definitions, will be mentioned like Proprietary Information, Invention, Cooperative Research, and Development, etc.
- Article 2 – Statement of work that includes the things to be done and the modifications under this agreement. (Rogers, 1998)
- Article 3 – The project term, as well as the financial obligation of the agreement, will be in this section.
- Article 4 – This section will include patent rights, licenses, and ownership related things.
- Article 5 – Data and Publication of the CRADA will be included, along with release restrictions.
- Article 6.- The partners involved in the CRADA agreement have the right to terminate the agreement by giving 30 days’ notice in writing.
Benefits and Drawbacks of the Cooperative Research and Development Agreement
Benefits
- The main benefit of this agreement is that the parties can negotiate with each other in terms of intellectual property, like patent rights, protection of confidential information, as well as rights related to licensing.
- The information or essential data generated from Cooperative Research and Development Agreement will be treated as proprietary for the next five years.
Drawbacks
- The main drawback is that this agreement may be executed only for the government by a warranted contracting officer.
- Secondly, the development of this agreement takes a lot of cost and effort because of which there is a delay caused in the literature.
What Happens in Case of Violation?
Termination in Cooperative Research and Development Agreement is basically by mutual consent when the partner and the collaborator may terminate while also specifying the disposition of all property, patents, and inventions that were the outcome of this research. On the other hand, in the case of unilateral termination, either party may terminate the Cooperative Research and Development Agreement at any time but with a notice period of at least 30 days to the desired termination date.
The Cooperative Research and Development Agreement is an agreement between the government agency and the private company to work together on research and development to speed up development with the help of technology as well as other available resources. This agreement allows both parties to keep the research outcome confidential for five years.