Contribution shapes ownership — not who arrived first.
Every team formed through Discovery Exchange agrees, up front, how IP, patent rights and downstream entitlements are shared. This is the cornerstone of the platform.
The principle
If you contribute meaningfully — by capital, by lab access, or by skill — you are part of the team and the team owns the work together.
The shared IP/patent/rights agreement is generated at the moment the team is finalised, signed digitally inside the platform, and stored as an immutable record.
What it covers
- IP ownership of the discovery, method or product.
- Patent filing rights and inventor designation.
- Revenue / licensing entitlements based on contribution weighting.
- Publication and authorship conventions.
- Exit, dilution and new-member rules.
- Confidentiality and post-team obligations.
All count. None override the others.
| Contribution | Examples | How it’s recognised |
|---|---|---|
| Expertise | Bench work, design, analysis, regulatory, clinical leadership | Inventorship + IP share + authorship |
| Funding | Cash, grants secured, in-kind costs covered | IP share + revenue rights |
| Resources | Lab access, instruments, reagents, datasets, compute, manufacturing | IP share + usage credits |
Specific weightings are proposed by the uploader, negotiated with shortlisted joiners, and locked into the agreement at sign-off. Templates follow common practice in life-science consortia.
Important note
Discovery Exchange provides templates and structure to help teams reach an agreement. It is not a substitute for legal counsel. We strongly recommend each member reviews the final agreement with their own legal advisor — especially when institutional employers, existing IP, or regulated sectors are involved. See our disclaimer.