What is background?

In the context of IPR (Intellectual Property Rights) background is:

‘Background’ means any data, know-how or information — whatever its form or nature (tangible or intangible), including any rights such as intellectual property rights — that:

(a) is held by the beneficiaries before they acceded to the Agreement, and

(b) is needed to implement the action or exploit the results.

(from EC Model Grant Agreement)

This means that knowledge you have before the project starts and that the project needs to do the work is defined as background.

Before a project starts you must identify your background and declare it in a Consortium Agreement or other document. Because:

This makes it clear what knowledge you had before the project
There will be no doubt that you also have all rights to this knowledge after the project
If you have not specified the background your knowledge maybe taken as results in the project and it may no longer belong to you alone
If your background is needed for using the results after the project you can specify on what conditions this shall be i.e. you may claim a compensation

You may declare background as what you will give the project access to and or what you will not give the project access to. (positive or negative list)

Think about what you have and ask Research Support for advice before you list your background.

What about other partners background?

There may be cases, however seldom, where the other partners’ background is subject to legal restrictions or limits that can cause trouble after the project is finished and someone wants to use the results. If in doubt seek advice.

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