Handling Material Transfer Agreements
General Information
A Material Transfer Agreement (MTA) is a contract between the owner of a material and its intended recipient, governing the transfer and subsequent use of the material. Exemplary materials include bacteria, cultures, nucleotides, proteins, plasmids, cell lines, transgenic animals, small molecules, polymers, and pharmaceuticals. An MTA governs the transfer of materials, and also covers issues such as ownership of the transferred materials and modifications and derivatives made by the recipient, limitations on use of the materials, confidentiality of information related to the materials, and rights to inventions and research results.
The following procedures should be used for outgoing and incoming MTAs.
Instructions for Outgoing MTAs (i.e., you are providing the material)
Please forward the request for materials to [[jason.mcdevitt,TTO]]. In order to ensure that TTO prepares a suitable MTA, please inform TTO if the material is a non-indigenous species of fish, or if the material is the subject of an invention disclosure or patent application. Please also be aware that transfer of non-indigenous fish may entail additional regulations.
Instructions for Incoming MTAs (i.e., you are receiving the material)
All incoming MTAs should be forwarded to [[jason.mcdevitt,TTO]] for approval, along with a completed Incoming MTA Questionnaire. The purpose of the questionnaire is to enable TTO to respond to the Provider Institution's MTA as efficiently and appropriately as possible.
Most MTAs can be processed extremely quickly, particularly those coming from other non-profit institutions. Some MTAs from industrial partners have more onerous terms. Our willingness to accept some of the less favorable terms will be dictated by answers you provide on the Incoming MTA Questionnaire, as well as by applicable state and federal laws.
Please be aware that only those individuals authorized to sign on behalf of William & Mary may sign agreements that legally bind William & Mary. Anyone else who does so, whether inadvertently or not, subjects themselves to substantial personal legal liability.
If you have any questions concerning MTA's , please contact TTO via phone at 757-221-1751 or [[jason.mcdevitt,e-mail]].
