What is a Memorandum of Understanding or Memorandum of Agreement?
A Memorandum of Agreement (MOA), or Memorandum of Understanding (MOU), is a document that describes the terms of a cooperative agreement between two or more parties, as well as the goals of the cooperation. A MOA typically marks the beginning of a collaborative project, and is an opportunity for stakeholders to outline their visions, conduct debates, and resolve issues. A MOA is normally not considered to be a legal contract. The main difference is that a contract is an agreement where something of value is exchanged (for example goods or labor). A MOA is an agreement for parties to work together to meet an objective, without necessarily exchanging anything. For more details see this Fact Sheet from IPinCH: