Biennial Collaborative Agreement

A collaborative agreement delineates conditions under which all participants will benefit.

A biennial collaborative agreement is a legal document defining a working relationship between two or more individuals or organizations to achieve a common goal for mutual benefit. The agreement runs for two consecutive years.

Intellectual Property Rights

Prime elements of collaborative agreements are sharing of data and results, and who will claim ownership to intellectual property rights that may arise during the contract period. Inclusion of such elements is important because without a written document, the aforementioned ideas are presumed to be equally owned by all involved parties.

Responsibilities

The rights and responsibilities of every party are spelled out, with one individual or organization named as lead or prime negotiator. Shared or formal decision-making is another important component of a biennial collaborative agreement.

Other Components

Of the additional components included in a biennial collaborative agreement, the group's purpose is the most important consideration. Other information that should be included in the legal document are names of all involved parties, structures and processes for making decisions. All members of the collaborative group must have a representative sign the document in order to validate it.

References

• University of Maryland: Collaborative Agreements
• Ontario Trillium Foundation: Writing A Collaborative Agreement Tip Sheet
• RCR Administrators: Types of Agreements
• Copylaw.com: Negotiating Collaborative Agreements

Resources

• ONECLE: Sample Business Contracts
• HHMI.org: Research Collaboration Agreement