Partnering & Intellectual Property (IP)
"The level of confidence", according to some, "is reflected in the bandwidth of information"
Innovating in a partnership context affords innumerable advantages.
Care is however needed. Nothing would be more disastrous than reaching the end of an innovation project – only to find that a major disagreement has sprung up within the partnership and is blocking commercial exploitation of the results.
As with all joint business ventures where each party has something at stake, it’s best to define together and agree on the « rules of the game » before starting the project – to anticipate disputes and how to resolve them, all the while working together in a structured, constructive way.
Indeed, for any project financed by the programmes of the European Commission, it will either be a precondition – or strongly recommended – prior to receiving finance that all partners in your project construct and adhere to a “Consortium Agreement”.
The “main headlines” in such an agreement should cover :
the project preparation phase : identify the nature, and conditions of use, of pre-existing intellectual property (IP) and know-how contributed by each partner, and which is to be used to achieve the envisaged innovation
the active collaboration phase : define management structures & mechanisms for the formal exchange of knowledge in verbal & written form – minutes of management meetings & technical workshops between partners, escalation procedures to resolve difficult problems …
the post-project phase : rights to exploit IPR and various items of new knowledge resulting from the project work ; procedures to be followed if a partner subsequently wishes to transfer its share of project IPR to a third party
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Contractual formalities apart, there are a number of “rules to live by” which have been proven to underpin successful collaboration – whether your objective is to obtain project finance, develop new technologies, products or services, or form a joint venture for post-project commercial exploitation of results. These are:
- ensure, from the outset, that there is a commonly shared view of objectives – that everyone is “pulling in the same direction”
- make sure each partner brings a unique complement of added value to the collaboration
- promote a collaborative environment based on teamwork, mutual trust, confidence, and integrity
- encourage partners to be communicative
- search continually for opportunities to reinforce synergy ("1+1 >> 2")
- leave scope for the unexpected : plan flexibility into how to reach objectives
- expect to encounter – and know how to manage – differences of opinion
- keep a pragmatic attitude on relationships with partners and on the work to be accomplished.
