Overview of our research work
The research related legal work which we undertake supports and complements the activities of the Research Development and Support Office (RDSO) and encompasses advice and negotiation concerning all research related agreements to ensure that the University's and other parties’ legal rights and obligations represent a fair balance of benefits. For examples of contracts where our expertise will usually be required see Research Related Agreements and for information about the importance of IP in this context see IP in the University Context.
In all research contracts issues such as access to Intellectual Property developed by the parties independently or before the research project began, and rights of collaborators (commercial and non-commercial) in Intellectual Property developed in the course of the project need to be agreed.
The University will usually own the Intellectual Property it develops in grant and charitably funded research, but we will still need to ensure that the terms as between all academic parties are fair and that the risks of the University are reasonable and proportionate.
In relation to collaboration with Industrial Parties the University endorses the Lambert Model Agreements and Toolkit. However in many cases since Lambert assumes Full Economic Funding and presents quite stark alternatives as regards research access, exploitation rights and royalty entitlements we will often propose and/or negotiate with Industrial Collaborators alternative terms which are mutually beneficial. Model Agreements are available (but not downloadable) on this website. Each research related contract must be evaluated on its own merits to ensure that it fits the circumstances and there is a fair balance of benefits and that the University is complying with all of its legal obligations and governance measures as a publicly funded charitable research organisation.
Where the University carries out commercially sponsored research the commercialisation of Intellectual Property in the results by the commercial sponsor will sometimes be anticipated in the relevant Agreement and, following our input and depending on the circumstances, we may agree with the Sponsor royalty rights to the University in the event that the University generated results are the subject of a successful commercialisation.
Upon such a happy eventuality such royalty income will be applied by the University in accordance with the Intellectual Property Policy.
Alternatively the research contract may provide that the University owns arising IP but a commercial collaborator has an option to take a licence on commercial terms or that the commercial collaborator owns certain categories of intellectual property arising from the research and the University others.
Where the University owns Intellectual Property arising from research it carries out then the University itself may wish to exploit the Intellectual Property generated by its students and academic staff. (Sometimes it will do so in conjunction with a commercial sponsor who has legal rights in the Intellectual Property or with other collaborating research organisations).
We also negotiate and agree the terms of Framework Agreements with commercial partners setting out the basis on which we will collaborate, i.e. to some degree anticipating the terms of the Research Related Agreements which we will enter into in due course. We currently have such Framework Agreements with Qinetiq, Airbus and Avon and Wiltshire Mental Health Partnership NHS Trust.