IP in EU-funded Projects

What is IPR - Intellectual Property Right?

Basically, almost every result developed during or before a project can be considered as IP. There are of course obvious items to consider (like patents, copyrights, trademarks...) but also less tangible items (e.g. know-how, designs, internal reports, methodologies, datasets...) can be included in your IP list.

The core idea is that there is some ownership involved, and with that some rights on the further usage/exploitation. And this needs to be regulated.

For European funded projects, an IPR strategy is a core part of the Consortium Agreement. It should document how prior-knowledge, that is needed to implement the action, is dealt with, how the ownership of in-project developments and results will be assigned, and what are the rights and conditions (for further use) by the other consortium members. It should also mention how potential IPR conflicts will be dealt with. 

Ownership, protection and exploitation of results

Results are owned by the beneficiaries that generate them, unless another ownership regime was specified in the consortium agreement.

The beneficiaries must adequately protect their results, taking into account relevant aspects, such as prospects of commercial exploitation or legitimate interests of the other beneficiaries.

Up to four years after the end of the action, beneficiaries must use their best efforts to exploit their results directly or to have them exploited indirectly by another entity (e.g. through transfer or licensing).

Access rights of granting authority

The granting authority has the right to exploit non-sensitive results of the action for activities such as

• Use for its own purpose
• Distribution to the public
• Editing and redrafting
• Translation
• Storage and archiving
• Processing and producing derivate works
• Dissemination

The granting authority has the right to authorise third parties to act on its behalf or sub-license to third parties any of the rights or modes of exploitation set out in Annex 5 of the DEP Model Grant Agreement.

IP in Horizon Europe 

The best way to get started are the following documents by the IP Helpdesk including the most important changes between Horizon 2020 and Horizon Europe:

• Your Guide to IP management in Horizon Europe
• Successful valorisation of knowledge and research results in Horizon Europe

One of the changes is the introduction of the following clause in Annex 5 of the Grant Agreement and mentioned in the General Annexes of the Work Programme: “ The granting authority may, up to 4 years after the end of the action, object to a transfer of ownership or to the exclusive licensing of results, as set out in the specific provision of Annex 5”  

The commission explained that this clause was added where the expected projects may generate results that are particularly relevant for the Union’s strategic interests, autonomy or security, while at the same time an ex-ante eligibility restriction would not be appropriate or proportionate

In the Work Programme 2026-2027 it has been widely introduced in call topics of the 6 clusters of pillar 2.

IP Support for Horizon Europe projects

IP Helpdesk?

The European IP Helpdesk is a first-line intellectual property (IP) service providing free-of-charge support to help European SMEs and beneficiaries of EU-funded research projects manage their IP in the context of transnational business or EU research and innovation programmes.

The European IP Helpdesk supports European SMEs and research teams involved in cross-border business and/or EU-funded research activities manage, disseminate and valorise their IP. Offering a broad range of informative material, a Helpline service for direct IP support as well as on-site and online training, our main goal is to support IP capacity building along the full scale of IP practices: from awareness to strategic use and successful exploitation.

IP Scan?

Horizon IP Scan is a tailored, free-of-charge, first-line IP support service provided by the European Commission specifically designed to help European start-ups and other SMEs involved in EU-funded collaborative research projects to efficiently manage and valorise IP in collaborative R&I efforts.

IP in Digital Europe projects with restricted participation

Where the call conditions restrict participation or control due to security or EU strategic autonomy reasons, the following additional rules apply:

• Background that is subject to control or other restriction by a non-eligible country must not be used and must be explicitly excluded in the list of background
• Beneficiaries must ensure that the results of the action are not subject to control or other restrictions by a non-eligible country
• Where the call conditions impose a first exploitation obligation, the first exploitation must take place in eligible countries and/or target countries.
• Beneficiaries may not transfer ownership of results or grant licenses to third parties which are established in non-eligible countries

Beneficiaries must ensure that these obligations also apply to their affiliated entities, associated partners, subcontractors and recipients of financial support to third parties (FSTP).

Further reading

• The IP management and resources section (on the European IP Helpdesk site)
• How to determine IPR strategy for Horizon Europe (by enspire.science)
• The European Patent Office (EPO) organises regularly trainings, check their Academy Catalog.
• The European Union Intellectual Property Office (EUIPO) has an interesting catalog with online IP-related trainings. Check also their roadmap (document attached to this infosheet) for a guided introduction.

IP In Flanders (VLAIO)

VLAIO pages on IP