Licensing UNL Technologies to Industry

UNL's licensing process is designed to achieve two goals: to bring additional research funding to the University and to put the inventions of the university community to work for the benefit of society.

OTD strives to make licensing convenient and straightforward. We will match you with an experienced licensing associate with industry experience and relevant technical expertise. OTD will work with you to custom tailor a licensing agreement to meet your company’s specific needs.

How Do I Get A License?

Anyone who wishes to license a UNL technology should…

• Contact the appropriate licensing associate to express interest in the technology;
• Demonstrate willingness and ability to develop and commercialize the technology;
• Express willingness to share the benefits of commercialization with the university.

Typical Agreements

License Agreements
OTD license agreements may include some or all of the following:

License Fee. This upfront fee is generally a small fraction of the overall value of the deal.

Patent Reimbursement Fees. The university typically expects to be reimbursed for the legal and filing fees related to patenting the technologies it licenses.

Commercialization Plan. OTD license agreements often include plans outlining the timeline and milestones for commercializing licensed technologies. These plans are required when licensing technologies arising from federally funded research.

Milestone Payments. Commercialization plans with long development timetables often include appropriate milestone payments, which help reduce initial license fees on high-risk ventures, since they are made only if commercialization progresses successfully.

Royalties. These ongoing payments are generally based on the selling price of the products or services using the licensed technology.

Minimum Royalty. OTD generally expects an annual minimum royalty once products or services using licensed technology are being sold. The minimum is set at a relatively low amount compared to the expected royalties, and any royalties paid offset the minimum royalty, so the minimum royalty is normally not an additional fee.

Equity. When dealing with relatively young or startup companies, whose need to preserve cash might be greater than more established companies, OTD may opt to accept various forms of equity in lieu of cash payments.

View OTD's standard non-exclusive license agreement
View OTD's standard exclusive license agreement

Option Agreements

An option agreement gives your company the right to evaluate a technology for a period of time to better understand its commercial potential. During the option period, UNL agrees not to license the technology to another party. A one-time option fee is charged.

View OTD's standard option agreement

Confidential Disclosure Agreements

These agreements protect proprietary information that is disclosed to outside parties, generally by requiring that the recipient maintain the confidentiality of such proprietary information and refrain from using it for purposes not permitted by the agreement.

View OTD's Mutual Confidentiality Agreement

Materials Transfer Agreements

These agreements permit biological or other materials owned by the University to be transferred to researchers at other universities or companies.

View OTD's standard commercial biological materials transfer agreement
View OTD's standard commercial materials transfer agreement