In IT consulting deals between companies, who typically ends up
owning the Intellectual Property (IP) that result from the deal?
Example consulting companies include EDS, IBM, Cap-Gemeni. I define IP
to include resultant patents, copyrighted material, trade secrets.
Under what terms is the IP owned? I would prefer if the data did not
relate to government contracts.
An example deal might include something like "Plano, Texas-based EDS
said it has signed a $350 million piece of business with Barclays Plc,
the British financial services powerhouse. EDS will manage some 41,700
desktops across various Barclays businesses; "
If you can differetiate between Managed Services and Consulting and
integration that would be good too. |
Request for Question Clarification by
journalist-ga
on
14 Jul 2003 14:21 PDT
Greetings Okra:
In what country would the ownership be in question? It seems to vary
from nation to nation.
EXAMPLE: From the site at
http://www.necg.com.au/JustDoIPArchive/issue020607_130.shtml regarding
"Just do IP"
"CHINA ALLOWS SCIENTISTS TO OWN THE RESULTS OF THEIR RESEARCH
In a move aimed at clarifying ownership of intellectual property, the
Chinese government has issued a declaration stating that scientists
and researchers can claim IP ownership of the results of their
research. Exceptions to this will be in areas that are related to
national security and also where important social benefits are
involved. The State Council has approved the directive, which was
released on May 20 in Beijing. The government states that, "Scientists
or their backers are free to decide how to transfer or commercialise
their technological findings."
Source: Policies & Regulations in Brief, May 21, 2002"
Thank you for any clarification.
Best regards,
journalist-ga
|
Clarification of Question by
okra-ga
on
14 Jul 2003 15:00 PDT
United States primarily, and optionally Europe, and optionally Japan
if you run across something.
|
Request for Question Clarification by
journalist-ga
on
14 Jul 2003 17:03 PDT
What I'm finding is that these agreements are normally structured in
advance in cases like this. For instance, please review the UC Davis
text regarding IP and consulting titled "GUIDANCE FOR FACULTY AND
OTHER ACADEMIC EMPLOYEES ON ISSUES RELATED TO INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY
AND CONSULTING - Intellectual Property Issues in Consulting
Agreements" at http://ovcr.ucdavis.edu/Forms/TTC/ipconsult/ipissues.html
Also, see http://www.isis-innovation.com/researchers/consulting-2.html
where it is stated "2. Intellectual Property - It is always essential
to have a clear understanding of who will own the results generated
during a consulting project and to ensure that substantial and
valuable background research activity and knowledge is not transferred
inadvertently."
Can you be more specific regarding your query? I mean, are there
certain companies that you wanted to know about?
Best regards,
journalist-ga
|
Clarification of Question by
okra-ga
on
15 Jul 2003 10:49 PDT
What we are interested in is the practice in the large IT consulting
companies such as EDS, IBM, Ernst and Young, Cap Gemini etc.
Another way of asking the question is: Do these companies charge more
if they assign the copyright to the customer...(and patent rights??)
I am not interested in the variety of IP disposition. We know that
there can be a permutation between ownership, license, and sublicense
rights.
A great example result would be proof that :
"EDS default position is that it retains ownership of the copyright
and maintains this 65% of the time. EDS seldom gives the custom away
patent ownership and when it does there is a significant premium."
And of course it would be good to have the supporting documents...
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