Overview
We know unusual and unexpected issues can present themselves in complex outsourcing relationships—and we also understand that cultivating positive, lasting relationships is crucial for our clients and their business partners. We work alongside clients to implement creative, commercially sound solutions that not only address complicated matters but which also foster sound, enduring relationships.
Torys’ Technology Contracting Practice represents clients in leading Canadian transactions for the development, acquisition and licensing of technology, technology services and other forms of intellectual property. We bring to the contracting and licensing process practical advice and state-of-the-art solutions designed to address the unique needs of each client.
We have experience assisting clients in development and collaboration agreements, licensing agreements, sponsorship agreements, co-marketing agreements, joint ventures, strategic alliances and other arrangements for the commercialization of intellectual property. Many of the long-term contracts we helped negotiate have been through at least one renewal cycle. This enables us to provide guidance to the practised consumer and the first-time user of outsourced services in evaluating critical, strategic choices in structuring relationships, such as choosing between a long-term and short-term arrangement or between a single-vendor and multi-vendor arrangement.
We have played a leading role in some of the largest Canadian outsourcing transactions, acting for clients opposite leading service providers. Our clients include financial institutions, telecommunications and media companies, consumer product and service companies, emerging companies and the venture capital firms looking to invest in them, industrial and manufacturing companies, e-commerce companies, government agencies, life sciences companies, information technology companies and other developers and owners of intellectual property. Transactions for these clients sometimes involve new technologies, business models and legal issues, and we take a creative approach to their structure and implementation.
Our end-to-end partnering, outsourcing and licensing solutions include
- implementation and management of long-term and short-term single-vendor and multi-vendor relationships
- technology development transactions
- business process outsourcing transactions
- managed services transactions
- joint venture licensing arrangements, including international licensing and technology transfer arrangements
- risk assessment
- ongoing evaluation and assessment
- negotiation of renewals
- negotiation and transition of new deals with alternative service providers