Page 48 - Mass General Brigham - Innovators Guide 1.2

48 INNO V AT O RS GUIDE | M ASS GENERAL BRIGH AM

7

7 Licensing

Financial and other terms in a license can vary in structure (e.g. royalties
on products sold, milestone, upfront and change of control payments,
Licensing Intellectual Property to a commercial annual fees, equity in the licensee etc.). Such terms also require the
entity is the principal commercialization route licensee to diligently develop the technology so it doesn’t “sit on the shelf”
for Mass General Brigham inventions. Innovation and also mandate that the hospital and academic collaborators retain
the rights to continue to do research on the licensed invention. In almost
works with inventors to market technologies every case, reimbursing the System’s back patent costs and payments for
to attract licensing opportunities. This usually continuing patent expenses are part of the license. An option agreement,
often a prelude to a license, gives the company a limited exclusive period
happens in parallel with the patenting process. to explore or validate the business potential enabled by the patents.

Timeline
Licenses
The process can vary in length but at a minimum a license generally
Licenses are agreements where the owner of an invention gives another takes several months. Early stage technologies that require significant
party right to the technology allowing them to produce, use or sell products investments from a company can take longer to secure a licensee.
protected by the licensed patent(s). The license terms define the rights,
responsibilities and exclusivity, of the parties under the license agreement. Contact information for Licensing Managers:
Key terms in a license include the field of use, the specific items being Rebecca Listfield PhD, rlistfield@partners.org
licensed, the duration of the license, the right to sublicense and the
financial or other considerations that will be paid to the institution by
the license.
Established precedents generally guide license negotiations. If a
technology represents an entirely new category, comparable technologies
or products are used to form the basis of an agreement.