A collaboration agreement is vital because the agreed-upon terms of working together need to be memorialized in a legal contract. Many times when two or more parties collaborate on a project, they share proprietary or confidential information. To ensure that information remains confidential, the parties should enter into a legally binding contract concerning the confidential treatment of all assets and the rights granted to each party before such information is shared.
When parties begin working together on a project, they don’t usually plan for how to handle conflicts that arise. It is vital that all parties understand and agree upon who will be responsible for what parts of the project and how they will share in the project’s benefits and costs. It is important to include what decisions each person can make and which ones are joint decisions, as well as what actions require prior written approval. Additionally, you should include how to treat intellectual property during the project and after the project is complete.
Some of the benefits of a collaboration agreement include:
The more specific you make the collaboration agreement, the less likely you’ll have conflicts down the road. As with all legal documents, you should draft your agreement according to the terms you negotiated and agreed upon with all parties.