EU funded projects

The European Court of Auditors (ECA) recently issued a special report entitled “Has the Commission ensured efficient implementation of the Seventh Framework Programme for Research?”. The ECA assessed whether the Commission has ensured efficient implementation of FP7. The audit covered the rules for participation, the Commission’s processes and the setting-up of two new instruments, and its results are likely to be useful not only for the remaining period of FP7, but also for the operational setup of the next research Framework Programme - Horizon 2020.

The report found that although the European Commission has taken a number of steps to bolster its management of the Seventh Framework Programme for Research (FP7), researchers seeking FP7 funding are however faced with unnecessary inconsistencies.

Accordingly the ECA recommended:

a)      Regarding rules for participation, the Commission should make further efforts to ensure that  beneficiaries’ practices can be used in Horizon 2020 and manage FP7 in a more consistent  manner;

b)      To strengthen process management, the Commission should deploy IT tools which will integrate all functionalities and it should examine the imbalances in staff workload;

c)       To reduce processing times, the Commission should make sure that the processes are automated and implemented consistently across its services;

d)      The Commission should make its control activities before and after payment more risk-driven, so as to better focus its control effort; and

e)      The EU Council, European Parliament and the Commission should bring the legal framework of the Joint Technology Initiatives more into line with their staff complement. To maximise the impact of the Risk Sharing Finance Facility, the Commission should demonstrate that it targets those beneficiaries which have limited access to finance.

For further information and to read the special report in full, please click here.

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Joint ownership often arises in connection with collaborative innovation and is of particular relevance to EU-funded programmes, joint ventures and more generally to any research project involving the co-development of intellectual property (IP).

The European IPR Helpdesk has developed a new fact sheet aiming to highlight the most essential IP issues to be addressed when handling jointly owned assets in contractual arrangements, in order to avoid the joint ownership pitfalls. By ensuring that the ownership of the generated IP, and the related responsibility for its protection and defence, are correctly allocated, collaborative projects have more chance to be efficiently implemented and litigation between partners to be avoided.

Have a look at it!

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The European Union (EU) promotes research activities with the purpose of strengthening the scientific and technological bases of the EU. In this way, the Union ensures sustainable growth, more and better jobs, as well as industry competitiveness. A cornerstone objective of the Seventh Framework Programme (FP7) is therefore to ensure a wide use and dissemination of the knowledge generated, thereby promoting further scientific developments, maximising the impact of the funding granted in the market and demonstrating the added value of projects.

In most FP7 projects there are therefore several rules concerning the use and dissemination of foreground, including the need to submit to the European Commission (EC) at the end of the project a plan for the use and dissemination of foreground (PUDF). A careful plan of the dissemination activities and the use to be made of the project’s foreground should however be seen as more than a simple obligation, but instead an essential step to pave the way for the research from the labs to the market.

The purpose of the present fact sheet is to outline the purpose and scope of the PUDF. Practical hints and best practices will be provided whenever possible, but keep in mind that there are no two similar PUDFs in FP7 - each PUDF must be tailored to each project.

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We are pleased to announce you that we have issued a new fact sheet in collaboration with the World Intellectual Property Organization's (WIPO) Arbitration and Mediation Center, on “Efficient Resolution of Disputes in R&D Collaborations, Licensing and Other Technology Transfer”.

The successful development and commercialisation of technology requires a carefully integrated dispute resolution strategy as a key factor in securing the value of technologies and associated intellectual property (IP) rights developed in research and development (R&D) collaborations and their subsequent commercialisation.

Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR) Mechanisms include several procedures that allow parties to resolve their disputes out of court in a private forum, with the assistance of a qualified neutral intermediary of their choice.  ADR procedures are offered by different arbitral institutions. 

The following fact sheet provides an overview of WIPO ADR mechanisms, principles, advantages and case examples to assist SMEs, universities, research centres, researchers and others in making a considered choice on how to resolve future or existing disputes when drafting contract clauses and submission agreements.

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We are pleased to announce the newly updated fact sheet on trade marks search, published in collaboration with the Office for Harmonization in the Internal Market (OHIM). OHIM as the official trade marks and designs office of the European Union registers the Community trade mark (CTM) and registered Community design (RCD). For further information on OHIM please click here.

There are many reasons why you may need to perform trade marks and should use trade mark’s databases:

1. before applying for a new trade mark, since it is essential to make sure that it is free to use;
2. once a trade mark is registered it is also important to regularly consult trade mark databases in order to check if similar or identical trademarks are being registered;
3. regardless of any intention to register a trade mark, these databases can also be used as source of business information. In fact, knowing the trade marks filed by a competitor can give you some insight into its commercial strategy.

To know more about trade marks searches and how to perform them download this newly updated fact sheet!

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Last week the Council reached an agreement on a partial general approach concerning the draft regulation laying down the rules for participation in research projects funded under Horizon 2020. This means that the Council has reached an agreement on the essential elements of this regulation, but the European Parliament opinion is still necessary.

The draft regulation includes the rules on intellectual property rights, use and dissemination.

For further information, please click here.

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Increasing industry participation in Horizon 2020 - the new framework programme for research and innovation (2014-2020) - was the topic of the parliamentary dinner debate in the European Parliament organisedby DIGITALEUROPE.

Speakers elaborated on the main parameters determining industry participation. These are laid out in the proposed regulation on Rules for Participation: the adequate protection of companies’ intellectual property and the need for appropriate provisions for access to research data and results, as well as for joint and transfer of ownership.

For more details, please click here

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The present case study brings to your attention the importance of having a sound IP management during FP7 projects, able also to foresee actions aimed at avoiding and resolving potential IPR conflicts arising during and after the project implementation.

This would indeed lead to a successful research project and to an enhanced marketability of the project results.

Just click on the below document to read more about this important issue!

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We are pleased to announce that the European IPR Helpdesk has published a new fact sheet on IP management in Marie Curie Actions.

The scope of this document is to outline the main IP-related issues that participants in Marie Curie Actions should consider in the different stages of their projects. The specific rules of the grant agreement related to IP are explained, as well as the content of other agreements commonly used in Marie Curie Actions. Yet, potential participants in these projects should be aware that Marie Curie Actions follow, with a few exceptions, the main FP7 IP-related rules. Thus, we strongly encourage reading our fact sheets on IP management in FP7 projects before this new one.

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This case on the Hydrocoat FP7 project focuses on the importance of having the results generated during a research project well protected, mainly when they have a huge commercial impact, in order to reap the full benefits from the R&D activity and to avoid those results be unduly exploited by others.

To have a grasp on how intangibles could be protected have a look to the case in point!

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