CHAPTER 15
Acquiring IP Rights: Joint Collaboration Agreement on an invention, a book or play, a musical score, or any other type of IP, they should first enter into a contract to cover their respective rights. A collaboration agreement will define their respective rights in the IP, not only among the creators themselves, but also in relation to third parties that seek to purchase or license the IP rights or infringe those rights. In the absence of an agreement, the rights of parties who have expended time and labor in a joint effort and who subsequently dispute those rights may be determined by statutory laws or court rulings that are not satisfactory to either party. Collaborating parties may modify the following form to reflect the particular arrangement and circumstances of their own situation. It may also be converted to letter format if the parties prefer a less formal contract.
WHEN TWO OR MORE INDIVIDUALS WORK TOGETHER
Joint Collaboration Agreement THIS COLLABORATION AGREEMENT IS MADE EFFECTIVE AS OF [date ] BETWEEN [name and address ] (FIRST COLLABORATOR) AND [name and address ] (SECOND COLLABORATOR) (TOGETHER REFERRED TO AS THE COLLABORATORS). THE COLLABORATORS HAVE DECIDED TO [describe collaboration, E.G., RESEARCH AND DEVELOP AN INVENTION OR WRITE A BOOK/MUSICAL SCORE] JOINTLY, AND THEY NOW AGREE TO THE FOLLOWING TERMS AND CONDITIONS OF THEIR COLLABORATION: 1 . A G R E E M E N T T O C O L L A B O R A T E THE COLLABORATORS AGREE TO COORDINATE AND COOPERATE IN JOINTLY CREATING THE INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY AS DEFINED IN THIS AGREEMENT. THIS AGREEMENT DOES NOT CREATE A PARTNERSHIP OR OTHER FORMAL ASSOCIATION AMONG THE COLLABORATORS, BUT MERELY FORMS A BASIS FOR COLLABORATION IN A JOINT EFFORT TO PRODUCE AND PUBLISH THE INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY. 2 . I N T E L L E C T U A L P R O P E R T Y THE INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY THAT THE COLLABORATORS WILL JOINTLY CREATE CONSISTS OF A [ patent/book/musical score/other creation ] PROVISIONALLY ENTITLED [ title ] AND BRIEFLY DESCRIBED AS [ summary ]. THE COLLABORATORS HAVE TOGETHER DEVELOPED A WORKING [ plan/outline/specification/other ] OF THE INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY, WHICH IS ATTACHED TO THIS AGREEMENT AS EXHIBIT 1. ALL OF THESE CONCEPTIONS AND MATERIALS CONSTITUTE THE INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY REFERRED TO IN THIS AGREEMENT. 3 . D I V I S I O N O F L A B O R I N C R E A T I O N THE COLLABORATORS SHALL HAVE THE FOLLOWING RESPONSIBILITIES IN JOINTLY CREATING THE INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY.
a. First Collaborator shall be responsible for [describe or list, e.g., researching and developing a prototype for the first phase of the Intellectual Property or writing the chapters of the Intellectual Property scheduled in this Agreement as first, fifth, and seventeenth through thirty-fifth, or writing and editing the entire Intellectual Property or writing the entire Intellectual Property.]
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