Task: "Negotiation"
After short-listing the vendors you may want to work with, you need to finalize the terms and conditions. Often the price is right, but the question of intellectual property may become an issue. This assignment gives you an opportunity to think how to approach the problems faced during negotiation.
You are in the negotiating team of a large and powerful corporation. You want to fund a research project at a major university. You also want to take advantage of the intellectual property resulting from this project. However, according to the university's standard terms and conditions, intellectual property rights from all such projects belong to the university.
Q1. What type of negotiation strategy could be used and why?
Q2. Would you insist on total ownership or accept rights to a part of the property?
Q3. Is there a way to ensure that information about the research project does not reach your competitors?
Q4. Can you think of another position that could be a win-win for both of you?