The Decision Guide is intended for use only with bilateral research cooperation agreements. There is no decision-making guide for the 4 consortium agreements. This is because there are too many possible alternatives for multi-stakeholder research. The Intellectual Property Office has worked with a number of international parties to conclude separate cooperation agreements in a number of countries. Model agreements for collaborative research are available. You will also find guidelines on the management of intellectual property in international cooperation and a guide from the European Commission for cross-border decisions. In 2012, the ERAC Working Group on Knowledge Transfer developed guidelines for the management of intellectual property in international cooperation. There are 2 models of cooperation agreements with two parties and the other for multi-party consortium agreements. These agreements can be used to start negotiations to agree on the basic principles of your project. These help to identify important problems at the beginning of the project and find solutions. The aim of the model agreements is to maximise innovation and promote cooperation with industry and knowledge exchange.
The cornerstone of the 7 model research cooperation agreements is that at least one commercial “partner” (the so-called collaborator) has the right to use the results of the project on a non-exclusive basis to promote the exploitation of the results and thus innovation. Agreements are intended to represent a workable and reasonable compromise for both parties or for all parties. As part of the development of cooperation between the UK and India in the field of IP, we have developed, in collaboration with Indian partners, an optional toolkit that we hope will be useful to IP practitioners in the UK and India as part of a practical framework to support IP management in cross-border science research and development. and industry. this will allow for a higher level of productive research cooperation between the two countries. The toolkit provides basic guidance and model agreements to help organisations in the UK and India understand how to respond effectively and quickly to IP management questions, such as: Who owns the IP resulting from the research? Is it authorized or allocated? If it is a licence, is it an exclusive licence? How are disputes resolved? Our comments on the Lambert toolkit and your experience using model agreements are welcome. The mICRA model template and complete information on the guidelines can be downloaded from the NIHR website. Guidelines have been developed to understand when and how to use Lambert model agreements. The notes also explain in more detail the roles and terminology of the wording of the agreements. Negotiating agreements on the ownership and management of intellectual property created through collaborative research partnerships is critical to the success of a relationship. Model agreements can work together to help the parties determine the intellectual property generated during a joint project in a fair and equitable manner.
We support the use of model agreements, such as the Lambert toolbox, developed by universities, UK companies and professional associations, as a good starting point for negotiations. We worked with experts from the UK and China to develop a new toolkit. The aim is to assist non-IP experts in dealing with issues related to the ownership and exploitation of intellectual property rights arising from cooperation between the UNITED Kingdom and China. The toolkit includes guidance documents and nine model agreements. The Lambert toolkit, including guides and model agreements, is designed to be used only if the agreements are governed by English law. To use a different legal system, you should seek legal advice from a qualified lawyer to advise you on the law of that country. There are 2 models of variation agreements, one for bipartite cooperation agreements and the other for multi-party consortium agreements. These agreements can be used when a new party joins the project. A fundamental principle in all model agreements is that no amendment to the agreement is valid unless all existing parties agree to the amendment in writing. Consortium agreements cannot cover all circumstances that may arise between academic and research institutions and industrial partners in the conduct of research. They illustrate terms that can be applied in four possible scenarios. You must negotiate with the other parties to reach a consensus and a signed agreement before work begins on the project.
These facilitate contract negotiations with the participation of publicly funded research institutions (e.g. B, universities) and enterprises. Originally launched in 2005, it consists of 5 model agreements for individual cooperation and 4 consortium agreements for several parties. The National Institute for Health Research (NIHR), through its Office of Clinical Research Infrastructure, offers a number of model agreements for use in research partnerships with the pharmaceutical and biotechnology industries, universities and NHS organisations. The Intellectual Property Office worked with the DEM NIHR and the Medical Research Council to develop the Model Agreement for Collaboration with Industry (mICRA). The 7 model research cooperation agreements cover individual projects. Each offers a different approach to who should own and exploit IP in the results or results of the project. A decision guide will help you decide which agreement to use. To help you decide which of the 7 model research cooperation agreements is best suited to the circumstances of your project, a decision guide will guide you through some of the principles and criteria you should consider when deciding on ownership and intellectual property rights. It may be helpful to consult this guide before using any of the research collaboration agreement templates. We have partnered with the Korean IPO to develop a new toolkit to help UK and Korean universities and industry manage IP in collaborative research projects.
The objective of the toolkit is to help non-IP experts quickly and easily resolve issues related to the ownership and exploitation of IP rights generated in collaborations. The toolkit is based on the Lambert toolbox and contains three model agreements with built-in guidelines. Model agreements are starting points and their use is not mandatory. You need to decide which of the 7 approaches is the most appropriate and negotiate with the other party before you start working on the project. None of the 7 research cooperation agreements deal with the co-ownership of intellectual property. Examples of co-ownership clauses can be found in The Consortium Agreement Template A. Consortium agreements B and C are designed to be used as part of Innovate UK`s collaborative R&D programme. With a few changes, they can be customized for other circumstances. Public Health England has created an accelerated agreement template (MS Word Document, 62.4KB) to very quickly assess possible treatment options for Ebola and Zika and share the results with stakeholders for a coordinated global response. After consultations, it is now available as a model agreement that can be adapted to any crisis affecting human, animal and/or environmental health. Model agreements are starting points and their use is not mandatory.
Each model agreement provides for a different set of circumstances and is not industry-specific, allowing for flexible use. However, the agreement templates can be tailored to the specific circumstances of your project. We have published a separate detailed guide to provide more information about the Lambert toolbox. It is designed to support research between universities, the pharmaceutical and biotechnology industries and the NHS by shortening the negotiation and procurement process for intellectual property ownership and management. .