Legal Issues related to the development, rollout and exploitation of Field Operational Test of Living Labs Hans Bracquené Seminar Living Labs January 267h, 2012
Specific questions complementary to the general FP Consortium Agreements -‐
Questions related to the organisation of the FOT
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Questions related to the physical platform
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Questions related to the intellectual property rights
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Questions related to the organisation of the test panel
1. Organisation of the FOT -‐ Separate Legal Entity? o Seldom used o Type of Infrastructure? o Intended Life Time? -‐ Daily Management and related Powers More complicated legal set-‐up requesting more interaction with third parties -‐ Admission of New Members o Who decides? o Open character? o Competitors? Cf. competition law o Different Types of Membership? Members vs. Customers
2. Development, rollout and exploitation
“Classical” R&D complemented by “classical” delivery Date, acceptance, warranties and liabilities: obligation of result? Ownership of the platform: by one legal entity or remains with contributors? Avoid co-‐ownership Exploitation: who can commit FOT and/or consortium members? Price-‐setting o contribution of parties need to be reflected o third parties: arm’s length price 3. Intellectual Property Rights FP7 scheme applicable to R&D part but not adapted for specific questions Test Results are highly sensitive and product owner will not share them nor grant user rights Separate category of Foreground: owned by product owner without any further obligation Product improvement of development using the LL: FP7 scheme in principle applicable but acceptable? o end phase of product development o attractiveness for third parties of the LL 4. Test Panel Specific Background and Foreground related to the selection and management of the panel. Specific treatment required? Relationship with test-‐user o Beware: no longer under commercial law but civil law o Keep it simple but be explicit Non-‐disclosure agreement Agreement for the use of the product o Loan o No warranty, servicing o Liability Privacy Legislation
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