Martha:

You should get some really "fascinating" responses to your question and
I really DO hope you will share them with the rest of the list -
especially some of the "horror stories!"  :-)

I recently retired from the Sponsored Programs Office at Purdue
University, but I still "lurk" on the list and try to help out my former
colleagues whenever I can.  In my experience at Purdue, it can take
anywhere from two weeks to two years to negotiate a contract with an
industrial sponsor - sometimes it isn't possible to EVER get them to
accept the intellectual property terms of a typical agreement between an
academic institution and an industrial sponsor - I know - been there,
done that !  At Purdue we've tried and tried with some companies and
finally had to tell them to "keep their money!" - their terms were
totally unacceptable to the "rules" set by Purdue's Board of Trustees.
That's a really tough one to "sell" to the faculty PI, but only rarely
have we had to do it, but we HAVE done it...

I think most of my colleagues in other Sponsored Programs offices will
tell you that it almost always takes LONGER than the PI expects !  It
doesn't matter whether that is two weeks or two years, it just a fact of
life that the PI EXPECTS you to be able to do it a LOT quicker than is
humanly possible, if you're to do your job well AND protect his/her
intellectual property (to say nothing about his/her gluteus maximus)...
:)

Please do share your results with the rest of us on the list - we all
need a good laugh now and then...

Regards,
Lou Pellegrino
Director, Sponsored Programs (now happily retired!)
Purdue Research Foundation/Purdue University

e-mail:  xxxxxx@wcic.cioe.com

Martha Taylor wrote:
>
> At the risk of upsetting a few, I would like a general guestimate from the
> group about how long on average it takes to negotiate a research agreement
> with a commercial sponsor.  Seems to be a bone of contention with our
> faculty lately.  I would like an idea of what is reasonable to expect - if
> there is such a number.
>
> I am looking at general research, testing services, and clinical trial type
> agreements and not licensing, teaming agreements, or agreements associated
> with specialized federal centers.  Please respond to me directly with a
> ball park figure.  If you want to throw in some anecdotal info like wildest
> scenarios or best practices or helpful hints, that would be great.  I can
> compile the info and repost just the results to the list.  Thanks.
>
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