Issue link: https://htpgraphics.uberflip.com/i/392125
Intellectual Property/Results Section 9 38 Where research is funded by UK Government funded bodies the ususal approach is that the Foreground IP should be owned by the research provider. Some instances where this may not be appropriate are: n National Security – the IP's sensitivity means it needs to be owned by Government and kept under tight control n Dissemination of Information – IP ownership is necessary to ensure complete disclosure, where the work has particular public implications e.g. public health n Aggregation of Work – it makes sense to draw IP created by the work of various parties together for better commercialisation n Standards or Regulatory Work – funded work is supporting standards or regulatory responsibilities which should not be the monopoly of one supplier n Research Provider Resources – the research provider has insufficient resources to commercialise effectively In the context of collaborative Research Contracts, where the participants are working together on the research, it may be that some IP is actually created jointly. This truly has to be joint creation for it to be jointly owned IP. If, say, A writes the first paragraph of a report and B writes the second paragraph, you will not have joint IP in the report. A will own the copyright in the first paragraph and B will own the copyright in the second paragraph. They will each need rights from the other to use the paragraph written by the other. You should always try to avoid including provisions in any agreement which say that participants will own IP jointly as it is highly problematic. Bar cases where it is genuinely unavoidable, if you can, agree that one participant will own any jointly created IP and the other will have a licence to use it so that it has the same practical rights as the owner, it will tend to simplify things slightly. However, whenever there is jointly owned IP you should always write certain provisions into your contract.