Collaboration models

Interested in collaboration with us? We offer various models for research collaboration to meet your needs. The basic models are co-funded research and customer-funded research, which differ in a number of areas and set out different terms for the rights and exploitation of the project results. Furthermore, we offer public-private partnerships as well as support in commercialisation of research results.

In general principle, the results created in Luke’s own and co-funded projects will remain the property of Luke. However, the results can be transferred to companies by licensing or other agreements. The commercial potential and need for IP protection of the research results are verified before publication.

We always publish the results of co-funded research, and a single partner cannot prevent the publication of results from a joint project of public utility. At Luke, public research funded by trust funds also belongs in the category of public research.

Responsible conduct of research and international peer evaluation are key factors for quality assurance in research institutes. At Luke, we evaluate our research activities constantly through internal and external scientific audits.

We offer customer-funded research in a transparent, fair and impartial manner to all companies whose operations do not conflict with Luke’s mission statement or research principles.

In customer-funded research Luke grants the rights of research results to the company – unless otherwise agreed – and considers the payment for the results to be included in the company’s financing of the project.

Luke’s customer-funded, market-based operations must be financially viable: they must at least cover the operating costs. We treat our customers fairly and observe consistent pricing principles. Our customer-funded operations are to be used to improve the social effects of our research.

We keep all data received from or concerning customers and the results of the projects strictly confidential, unless the information is publicly available or the customer has given permission for its publication. Every Luke employee is responsible for handling information in accordance with the internal information security guidelines. We do not reveal customer information to parties not authorised to handle it.

Luke’s public-private partnership projects are usually built around new, emerging themes, in which the participating companies have a shared interest even though they may come from different fields of bioeconomy. The objective of a public-private partnership project is to create new knowledge and expertise that can be widely published and commercially exploited. The project cannot be used for the participating companies’ direct product development.

The results of the project are owned by Luke. The research is public, and the protection potential for the results will be determined before the possible publication. Partners funding the project cannot prevent the publication of results. However, they have the primary negotiating rights for utilising the results.

Luke can transfer the rights to ownership and use of the results upon receiving compensation for industrial property rights and copyright. The compensation has to be determined in a transparent and objective manner. When determining the compensation, the input of the companies to the project can be taken into account.

At Luke, we believe close collaboration and transfer of knowledge and technology with companies is the best way to guarantee that inventions make it to the market to benefit society.

We have a well-defined process for identifying and exploiting inventions generated by research. The invention guide as well as the related notification process and guidance practices have been drawn up to reward the inventor but also to be safe in terms of the law and future utilisation of the inventions in the market.

Luke applies employee invention law. Under the act, an employee shall notify the employer of the invention, who within four months decides whether to take possession of the invention. During this time Luke determines the invention’s ownership, market potential, protection and exploitation possibilities and seeks the best ways to transfer the invention to the business community.

Sometimes the invention can be subject to intellectual property rights (IPR), such as a patent. This means that only the owner of the patent rights is entitled to utilise the new knowledge in a commercial context. Luke is keen to negotiate licensing or other intellectual property transfer agreements with companies after or even during the process of applying for patent protection.

When transferring intellectual property rights produced by the project, Luke is entitled to market-price compensation, which can be a lump-sum compensation or based on revenues and royalties.

Luke also seeks to guarantee that researchers will be able to continue the research in the area after the technology transfer agreement has been signed.