(COLUMBUS, Ohio)—Ohio Attorney General Mike DeWine and Ohio Board of Regents Chancellor Jim Petro announced today that four legal templates for contracts have been developed for use by Ohio's colleges and universities when partnering with private industry on research and commercial projects.
"We want to help our colleges and universities in their dealings with businesses so that they can work together to get products and ideas out in the marketplace faster. By having these templates at the ready, we can eliminate some of the more routine legal steps involved," said Attorney General DeWine.
"Ohio's colleges and universities have a wealth of talent and ideas that can be translated into products that help spur job growth in the state. By providing them with legal templates for standard agreements, our higher education institutions can better move at the speed of business," added Chancellor Petro.
The templates are meant to help streamline negotiation processes and facilitate collaboration between the public institutions that perform research and private sector companies. It is anticipated that the partnerships created with these agreements will promote the commercialization of educational research and help facilitate the conversion of ideas into marketable products that foster economic development.
Attorney General DeWine provided organizational and legal staff support to the Template Working Group, which drafted template agreements that cover four areas: Non-Disclosure Agreement, Sponsored Agreement, Master Agreement, and Testing Agreement. The Template Working Group is a subcommittee of the Research & Commercialization Task Force instituted by the Attorney General's Office in conjunction with the Board of Regents and the Inter-University Council of Ohio. The goal of both the Template Working Group and the Research & Commercialization Task Force is to promote and streamline the process for commercialization of research performed by Ohio's institutions of higher education.
Ohio universities and colleges have already begun using the templates. Lorain County Community College has used versions of the templates to partner with businesses seeking to use the staff and facilities of its newly opened SMART Commercialization Center for Microsystems. The agreements have helped the College ensure against the disclosure of confidential or proprietary information, protect the school from liability when private entities access its laboratories and equipment, and provide a framework for sponsored research and joint project development. In addition, the University of Toledo is using the Non-Disclosure Agreement in transactions with nearly 25 parties that are interested in engaging in research partnerships.
Representatives from Miami University, Wright State University, the Northeastern Ohio College of Medicine, the Ohio State University, the University of Akron, and the University of Toledo were members of the Template Working Group.
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