We are the Chartered Institute of Patent Attorneys (CIPA), the UK’s largest intellectual property (IP) organisation.

We are concerned that IP provisions in many government grant and procurement contracts may be too onerous to the extent that they undermine a business’s competitive advantage, deter investors and may even cause a business to withdraw from a grant application.

We have seen examples of clauses that include global sublicensing rights to the IP, including background technology, that extend beyond what would normally be included in a commercial contract.

We believe that these IP clauses restrict, rather than support, the growth of the UK economy.

We know that it is early to mid-stage startups, scaleups and SMEs, that are hit hardest by these terms - and we are calling for change.

Government is listening to us, but we need more evidence.

If your business has been adversely affected by contractual IP clauses in UK government grants or public procurement contracts, you can help by completing our survey.

The survey should take around 30 minutes.

Please complete all questions in Section 1 (About your business) and Section 2 (About your business’ Intellectual Property). These include several tick box responses. For Section 3 (About your business’ funding), you only need to answer questions that apply to your business.

Please make sure you have relevant details to hand, such as:
  • An indication of the types of customers for your products or services and their annual revenue
  • Details of any grant funding or procurement contract applied for
  • Any examples of where you have withdrawn from a grant application or procurement process due to an IP risk
  • Details of any legal advice you sought
All answers are anonymous. You will have the opportunity to provide contact details, should you wish, at the end.

Thank you for your help!

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