Use appropriate negotiation techniques to make sure that:

• Important issues are determined
• The state's position is properly set forth
• Alternatives are explored where there is disagreement
• Agreement is reached on all contract terms
• Negotiation ethics are followed

In negotiating price and other terms, make sure that the following are resolved, as provided by the procurement plan:

• Patents and royalties questions
• Copyright questions
• Insurance questions
• Labor questions
• Taxes
• Certificate of current pricing data

Determine whether ethical standards have been adhered to, especially:

• Covenants against contingent fees (report to higher authority any failure to furnish required information or any other information).
• Standards prohibiting officials from receiving any benefit, gratuities, or
  kickbacks (report any violation to the contracting officer).

Property Rights Management

Intellectual property laws confer a bundle of exclusive rights in relation to the particular form or manner in which ideas or information are expressed or manifested, and not in relation to the ideas or concepts themselves (see idea-expression divide). It is therefore important to note that the term "intellectual property" denotes the specific legal rights which authors, inventors and other IP holders may hold and exercise, and not the intellectual work itself.

Intellectual property laws are designed to protect different forms of intangible subject matter, although in some cases there is a degree of overlap.

• Copyright may subsist in creative and artistic works (eg. books, movies, music, paintings, photographs and software), giving a copyright holder the exclusive right to control reproduction or adaptation of such works for a certain period of time
• A patent may be granted in relation to an invention that is new, useful and not simply an obvious advancement over what existed when the application was filed. A patent gives the holder an exclusive right to commercially exploit the invention for a certain period of time (typically 20 years from the filing date of a patent application)
• A trademark is a distinctive sign which is used to distinguish the products or services of one business from those of another business
• An industrial design right protects the form of appearance, style or design of an industrial object (eg. spare parts, furniture or textiles).
• A trade secret (also known as "confidential information") is an item of confidential information concerning the commercial practices or proprietary knowledge of a business

Patents, trademarks and designs fall into a particular subset of intellectual property known as industrial property. Like other forms of property, intellectual property (or rather the exclusive rights which subsist in the IP) can be transferred (with or without consideration) or licensed to third parties. In some jurisdictions it may also be possible to use intellectual property as security for a loan.