Industry

Technology Transfer Process

Collaborating with AUC Researchers

Innovators at the American University in Cairo have made advances in areas ranging from thermo-acoustic generation, to desalination, to the novel diagnostics.   Our office can work with you to identify researchers who might be interested in collaborating with your company.

For more information about faculty working in your areas of interest, browse our available technologies or contact a TTO Technology Licensing Officer at  tto@aucegypt.edu.

Agreement Types

• Non-disclosure agreements (NDAs), also known as a Confidentiality agreements (CA) are legal contract between at least two parties that outlines confidential material, knowledge or information that the parties wish to share with one another for certain purposes, but wish to restrict access to or by third parties. NDAs are often used to protect the confidentiality of an invention as it is being evaluated by potential licensees. NDAs also protect proprietary information of third parties that University researchers need to review in order to conduct research or evaluate research opportunities. AUC’s TTO enters into NDAs for University proprietary information shared with someone outside of the University or two-way NDAs to enable both partners to share information. Both parties agree not to disclose information covered by the agreement.

• Material transfer agreements (MTAs) are used for incoming and outgoing materials at the University, describing the terms under which University researchers and outside researchers can share materials, typically used for research or evaluation purposes. Intellectual property rights can be endangered if materials are used without a proper MTA.

• Collaborative research agreements or inter-institutional agreements describe the terms under which two or more institutions will collaborate to assess, protect, market, license and share in the revenues received from licensing jointly owned intellectual property. Collaborative research agreements also specify each party’s intent on sharing data, research materials and facilities, and publishing research findings.

• Option agreements, or option clauses, within research agreements describe the conditions under which the University preserves the opportunity for a third party to negotiate a license for intellectual property. Option clauses are often provided in a sponsored research agreement to corporate research sponsors or are entered into with third parties wishing to evaluate the technology prior to entering into a license agreement.

• License agreements describe the rights and responsibilities of a party related to the use and exploitation of intellectual property developed at the University. University license agreements stipulate that the licensee should diligently seek to bring the intellectual property into commercial use for the public good and provide a reasonable return to the University.

• Exclusive license agreements state that no person or company other than the named licensee can exploit the relevant intellectual property rights.  Importantly, the licensor is also excluded from exploiting the intellectual property rights.

• Non-exclusive license agreements grant to the licensee the right to use the intellectual property, but means that the licensor remains free to exploit the same intellectual property and to allow any number of other licensees to also exploit the same intellectual property. 

Starting the Licensing Process

It’s the TTO’s role to negotiate license agreements with companies seeking to commercialize AUC’s inventions. A license agreement is a contract between AUC and a third party in which AUC’s rights to a technology are transferred to the licensee company (without relinquishing ownership) for financial and other benefits. License agreements are used with both new, spinoff businesses and established companies. 

The majority of AUC’s technologies are early stage and require licensees with a strong commitment to the highly complex journey of the development and productization phases of commercialization.

The TTO’s main goals in any licensing agreement is to ensure that the licensee will:

• Develop the technology with public benefit as one of the main aspirations.
• Comply with all AUC policies and regulations.
• Provide reasonable financial return to AUC and the inventors if the technology is proven successful.  Typically, part of the total value of AUC’s intellectual property is shared back to the University in the form of royalties on sales, upfront fees, maintenance fees, equity and development milestone payments.

All licensing negotiations are handled directly between the TTO and a non-inventor representative of the company in order to avoid potential conflicts of interest.

If you'd like to start the licensing process, please contact one of AUC’s Technology Licensing Officers, or email tto@aucegypt.edu

You can also search our available technologies for licensing opportunities.