R&D collaborations are becoming increasingly important in the Agri-food sector. Cross sector collaborations take research and development activities to a higher level, resulting in new technologies e.g. in the field of robotics, AI, vertical farming and new breeding technologies. Innovations resulting from such collaborations will contribute to solving global food challenges and play an important role in sustainability. However, drafting R&D agreements may be challenging in practice.
During this introductory course recorded on 16 September 2021, the structure and key provisions of R&D agreements will be discussed on the basis of practical examples, with a focus on the IP arrangements (ownership and access rights during and after the collaboration) and other legal aspects that need to be taken into account, such as EU competition law. Various types of R&D collaborations will be touched upon, including multiparty collaborations, collaborations with research institutes and subsidized projects. The participants will learn about the particularities of the types of collaborations and the pitfalls that need to be taken into account when drafting these agreements.