Under construction.  This will outline some FAQ on projects.

What will decide a project's scope?

While projects are in their exploratory stages their exact scope is often undecided. ESA wants its projects to have commercial potential. Therefore the ideal project is customer-driven with a strong customer lead.  Projects supported by grants may have their scope determined by the grant conditions.

How is a project funded?

The bulk of resources will come from team partners, e.g. in-kind and cash.  In some cases projects will have supplimentary external funding, e.g. government grants.

What factors determine which companies are on a project team?

A successful project will require strong collaboration built on goodwill and trust. Furthermore, each partner must be convinced that their team mates are adding value and working for the good of the group. We expect that to a large extent a team will be self-selecting. The cluster executive will manage a voting process if this helps team formation. Note that each project team member will be required to be a cluster sponsor which will support the general cluster program for the year.

How is IP ownership determined in a project?

Ultimately a team must decide the nature of the project agreement. We propose the following proven IP model as a useful starting point for discussion.

• Background IP (i.e. pre-existing IP):

  • Partners may use freely within the project.
  • Owning partner must licence (for royalty) if required to enable use of Foreground IP.

• Foreground IP (i.e. new IP created within the project):

  • Creating Partner owns solely or jointly.
  • Owner can freely on-sell or sub-license without accounting.
  • Other Partners granted non-exclusive, royalty-free licences for own use and exploitation.
  • Creating Partner may freely license to others without consent or accounting.
  • Non-owners may not license or disclose to others except where inherent in their own products.