R&D – Intellectual, Property Law, Know-how Protection

 

 

R&D projects enable the accelerated further development of a technology by bringing together the skills, experience and specialized knowledge of the participating companies and institutions so that new products or technologies can be created.

In order that such a R&D project bring real benefits to a company and will not be just leading to a "drain of know-how", it is important to define in advance which background rights the individual parties bring to the project and how to deal with foreground rights or side rights. Other questions, like who is allowed to register what, when and where (e.g., patents or utility models) or how can ones’ own know-how be protected without disturbing the cooperation or making it impossible, are questions that can and must be contractually regulated.