Intellectual Property Rights (IPR) in Pre-Commercial Procurement
Each supplier will keep ownership of the IPRs attached to the results they generate during the pre-commercial procurment (PCP) implementation. The tendered price is expected to take this into account.
The ownership of the IPR's will be subject to the following:
The Buyers Group has the right to:
- access results, on a royalty-free basis, for their own use
- grant (or to require the suppliers to grant) non-exclusive licences to third parties
- exploit the results under fair and reasonable conditions (without the right to sub-license)
Additionally the Buyers Group has the right to require the suppliers to transfer ownership of the IPRs if the suppliers fail to comply with their obligation to commercially exploit the results (see below) or use the results to the detriment of the public interest (including security interests).
Commercial exploitation of results
Commercial exploitation is an important part of a Pre-Commercial Procurement process. The Suppliers need to make a credible plan to secure access for the Buyers Group to the solutions resulting from the R&D work done within AI4Cities. It should be ensured that the Buyers Group can continue to benefit from the solutions after the project has ended. Therefore, suppliers are expected to protect their Intellectual Property and commercially exploit the results of the Research and Development undertaken in the PCP within a period of four years after the end of the Framework Agreement.
Declaration of pre-existing rights
The ownership of pre-existing rights will remain unchanged by the PCP.
In order to be able to distinguish clearly between results and pre-existing rights (and to establish which pre-existing rights are held by whom):
- Suppliers are requested to list the pre-existing rights for their proposed solution in their offers
- Buyers Group and Suppliers will be requested to establish a list of pre-existing rights to be used before the start of the contract.
The Buyers Group does not hold any pre-existing rights relevant to the PCP contracts.
The framework agreement will contain a provision that describes in more detail the rights and obligations of the different parties regarding the pre-existing rights and results.