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"  DEAR E. JEAN: I&amp;#039;m a 28-year-old MD, my mother is a molecular biophysicist, and I&amp;#039;m applying for jobs as a medical science liaison at various pharmaceutical companies. Those are the facts. Now for the craziness: My mother, my sister, and I are in the middle of a patent battle. The patent application is not the problem. The problem is, I&amp;#039;m refusing to sign a contract that (to me) seems to provide an unreasonably small percentage of profit to my mother and me for a medical discovery that we coinvented. My mother, the principal scientist, has asked that &amp;quot;no attorneys get involved.&amp;quot; But this contract is questionable. My sister (the business brain in the family) drew it up, and it&amp;#039;s been approved by my mother (the science brain). In my opinion, it offers too great a profit to potential venture capitalists. But my mom wants to work only with my sister, and they&amp;#039;re both angry with me. Help! \u2014Modern Family DOC, DARLING: Madame Curie gave birth to two radiant daughters. The first child, Ir\u00E8ne, grew up to be a Nobel winner like her mother. The second, Eve, became a writer. If Madame Curie and Ir\u00E8ne had signed an agreement as dumb as the contract your sister has drawn up, the history of medicine would have been changed\u2014radiation, X-rays, etc., might never have happened, and radium would probably be used to make Parisian underpants glow in the dark . You and your mother have invented a breakthrough drug-delivery system\u2014I&amp;#039;ve been reading about your stupendous work!\u2014that will save lives. So no more messing around. Retain a law firm that has expertise in contracts, intellectual property, and patent law. Brilliant as your mother is, signing a paper that gives a large percentage of profit to a &amp;quot;potential&amp;quot; (good lord!) venture capitalist is insane. Your lawyer(s) will draft some language. Then, when you speak with your sister and mother, you can suggest a short, one-page agreement that states how the profits will be split between the inventors\u2014i.e., you and your mother. Then, after you&amp;#039;ve met with several world-class venture funds specializing in medical start-ups, and after you&amp;#039;ve selected the best company to help you bring your discovery to the world, you may proceed so far as to talk about the profit-split with the VC. Now, one last word. Go with your sister to the funding meetings. It&amp;#039;s your invention. Take charge! (And take a close look at the percentage your sister cuts \u2028for herself.) "^^<http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#string>
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