IP toolbox
Tools for managing and commercialising intangible assets
What is this
To support the growth of knowledge-intensive entrepreneurship in Estonia, we have created a collection of freely usable document templates and tools to help companies exploit their intangible assets and intellectual property commercially.
Unless otherwise noted, all materials are freely available under a Creative Commons Attribution (CC0) 4.0 license.
Comments, suggestions, and questions about the toolbox and its documents are very welcome. Please e-mail them to the EIS intellectual property and technology transfer team.
What do you need tools for?
Attention! The document templates provided here are intended to serve only as a basis for adaptation to suit each use case. Neither EIS nor the partners involved in the preparation of the model documents are liable for any losses or damages associated with the use of the model documents. Using them, you agree to the general terms and conditions for using EIS model documents.
When planning any development cooperation, the parties should consider and agree on who will share commercially sensitive information and under what conditions to prevent the leakage of sensitive information.
If sensitive information is shared by only one party (e.g., in the case of a pure development order), a unilateral confidentiality agreement is appropriate. If sensitive information is shared by both parties (e.g., in the case of development cooperation), a bilateral confidentiality agreement should be chosen.
Unilateral Confidentiality Agreement (NDA) form
Bilateral Confidentiality Agreement (NDA) form
The development work contract template is intended for use in situations where one party orders a development from another party and wishes to use the development results. The contract leaves it up to the parties to decide whether and under what conditions the party carrying out the development can use the results itself in the future. The agreement is suitable for initiating development cooperation with engineering firms, universities, or other research or development institutions. Before executing the contract, we strongly recommend discussing it with your development partner and completing the suggested outline for development cooperation negotiations provided below.
Contract Research Negotiations Term Sheet
Contract Research Agreement Form
The guidelines for development cooperation negotiations and the basic principles of a development cooperation agreement are intended for use in cases where two or more companies wish to cooperate on a development project, with each party developing its own part in pursuit of a common goal, carries out its own activities, and creates new intellectual property. Since the reasons and conditions for development cooperation always vary, we strongly recommend that you follow the recommended structure for development cooperation negotiations below when negotiating an agreement.
R&D Collaboration Agreement Negotiations Term Sheet
R&D Collaboration Agreement Form
If any of the project partners contribute their existing IP, data, know-how, or other sensitive information, we recommend adding a so-called background IP list to the agreement. This list should clearly list the intangible assets contributed to the project and the rights that are (or are not) granted to the other party during or after the project.
Attention! The document templates provided here are intended to serve only as a basis for adaptation to suit each use case. Neither EIS nor the partners involved in the preparation of the model documents are liable for any losses or damages associated with the use of the model documents. Using them, you agree to the general terms and conditions for using EIS model documents.
Attention! The document templates provided here are intended to serve only as a basis for adaptation to suit each use case. Neither EIS nor the partners involved in the preparation of the model documents are liable for any losses or damages associated with the use of the model documents. Using them, you agree to the general terms and conditions for using EIS model documents.
For a company’s intangible assets and IP to be commercially exploitable, they must be identified and their commercial value assessed, even if only qualitatively. Such mapping of intangible assets (sometimes called an IP audit) is when a company creates an overview of the intangible assets under its control, their commercial impact, sources, and condition. An IP audit is usually the first step in creating an intellectual property strategy for a company or business line.
To begin protecting technologies and innovative solutions, the specific solution to be protected must be clearly defined for the company. Then, a decision can be made on the protection strategy (for example, whether and which part of it could or should be protected as a trade secret or by a patent). To do this, you can use, for example, the following:
- an invention or innovation disclosure, which helps the expert or team that created the solution to specify what the solution and its technological (or commercial) value could be;
- an international patent application outline helps to structure the description of the invention in the same way as it is usually structured in an international patent application. This speeds up the process of applying for protection for the invention in cooperation with patent experts.
Invention or innovation disclosure form, to be filled by the authors