Prototype development agreement

About this prototype design and make contract

This agreement has been drawn to cover the structure of a complicated deal in simple terms you can edit yourself. This contract is for use by a business in any industry, to regulate a deal for design and manufacture of a prototype product. That could be anything from a range of fashion items to a steering system for railway carriages. Professionally drawn and very thorough. Suitable for home or abroad. Details of work to be attached by you or entered in schedule. It is an umbrella version suitable for either a single instruction, or for multiple or continuing orders.

We cannot hope to think up the specification for every possible product. We leave it to you to provide your specification for design, finished product and standards to be achieved along the way. All this will be set up by you and either attached as a separate document or typed up as the schedule.

Key features

• Favours the designer/customer not the manufacturer, so puts you in the driving seat
• Takes you logically through the practical provisions you will need
• Assumes your intellectual property is of great value and must be protected
• Suitable for a contract with foreign manufacturer
• Provides extensive menus for dealing with transportation and delivery

Contents of this prototype design and make contract

The most important provisions are likely to be:

• Manufacturer’s warranties - who they are, what qualifications they have
• Scope of work - what exactly is the deal
• Design reviews, product testing and quality assurance
• Regulatory approvals
• Setup costs
• Payment for product development
• Delivery
• You can show their plant to potential customers or regulatory bodies
• Design price and payment
• Production price
• Use of sub-contractors
• Confidential Information, including your intellectual property
• No change of control without permission
• New IP
• Rules for publicity and / or announcements