National Code of Practice for Managing Intellectual Property ... - Forfás

37
Where employees from two or more parties contribute to an invention, joint ownership may be negotiated by
the parties. While the negotiation and management of joint ownership agreements can be complex, should this
be an agreed option by the parties, the possibility should be included in the upfront agreement. A joint ownership
management agreement, outlining exploitation rights and terms, should be negotiated. This agreement should
stipulate possible exploitation routes, and should consider third party licensing arrangements by all partners, with
provision for further discussion on compensation via royalty payments, as appropriate.
INCENTIVES FOR COLLABORATIVE RESEARCH:
In negotiating ownership and access to the IP, all partners should ensure that adequate incentives are provided for
the collaborating parties, taking account of funding arrangements and relative intellectual input. Members of the
project team should share in the benefits of successful collaboration and commercialisation. Incentives should be
broadly-based and include both financial and non-financial rewards.
SECTION D – COMMERCIALISATION
D.1 MAXIMUM EXPLOITATION OF IP
The primary aim of any relationship and associated agreement between the partners concerning IP should be to
ensure that the IP arising from the research can and will be fully exploited for commercial gain.
The preferred arrangements for exploiting the results and IP arising from the research are that the partner best
positioned and most able to pursue commercial exploitation will have sufficient access to the IP to enable full and
successful exploitation.
All available avenues for exploitation should be considered, including the option of spin-out formation.
Guidelines:
4 The partner who expects to exploit the IP commercially has an obligation to do so in a timely manner,
subject to the demands of the market. If they cannot or choose not to do so, they should make the necessary
arrangements to enable other partner(s) or third parties to exploit the IP.