Forging successful university-industry collaborations

In an increasingly global, networked market for R&D it is more important than ever to collaborate. In the past, intellectual property negotiations have been formidable barriers to forming effective col laborative university-industry arrangements. Experience has shown that it is possible to reduce negotiation from 20-26 to 1-2 months by using a model to build a team, agreeing on a pre-determined process, and being committed to finding creative ways to reach agreement. Hewlett-Packard's experience in using such a model with the University of California at Berkeley and the (California) Bay Area Science and Innovation Consortium has shown how creativity and insight are essential to achieving convergence and also helps explain why standard agreements cannot effectively address the situational challenges.