In this advanced Masterclass, participants will explore the negotiation of IP agreements in collaborative R&D projects between public research organisations and industry partners. The programme focuses on how to structure and negotiate key IP clauses — including ownership, access rights, licensing and spin-off arrangements — within the framework of EU State aid law.
Special attention will be given to the EU Framework for State aid for Research, Development and Innovation (RDI Framework) and the General Block Exemption Regulation (GBER).
Poorly structured IP agreements can unintentionally create State aid issues, exposing both research organisations and companies to legal, financial and reputational risks. At the same time, overly cautious or unclear contracts may hinder collaboration, limit commercial impact and slow down knowledge transfer activities. Understanding how to negotiate IP terms that are both compliant and commercially workable is therefore essential for successful and sustainable R&D partnerships across Europe.
This highly practical Masterclass combines concise legal and economic insights with real-life case studies, contract clause analysis and interactive discussions. Participants will learn how to identify State aid “red flags” in IP agreements, apply the RDI Framework and GBER to real-world scenarios, and translate these requirements into robust contractual language.
By the end of the programme, participants will be able to:
This course is designed for professionals at universities, research institutes, and Knowledge/Technology Transfer Offices (K/TTOs) who are responsible for the negotiations of intellectual property (IP) contracts with industry and private-sector partners.
This course gives an in-depth understanding on managing contract portfolio, including research contracts, license agreements, and other collaboration agreements.
Ram Siddappa
Erasmus MC, Netherlands
The software course has provided invaluable information as our TTO expands to take on software cases.
Tom Withnell
University of Vienna, Austria
Just perfect 3 days full of information and perfect communication.
Petr Kubečka
Palacký University Olomouc, Czech Republic
Thank you for such enjoyable inspiring event, great choice of the lecturers!!!
Linda Ondrackova
University of Pardubice, Czech Republic
This course offers an opportunity to meet likeminded people, share tips and tricks, and dive into different approaches to help you set up and improve KTO processes.
Brechtje Vreenegoor
Radboud University, Netherlands
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